MJVEJSTHEStM 
—  OF  IT 


GEORGE  GARY  EGCLESTON 


A.F.  PENDLETOM, 

Bookseller  and  Statiooet 

Next  to  Dyer  Building, 


&&+*" 


Love  Is  the  Sum   of  It  All 


As  SHE  SANG    RHF.TT  ROSE  FROM  HIS  CHATR.— 


.9.-?- 


LOVE  IS  THE  SUM 
OF  IT  ALL 

A  PLANTATION  ROMANCE 


BY 

GEORGE  GARY  EGGLESTON 
Jf 

AUTHOR   OF  "DOROTHY  SOUTH,"  "A  CAROLINA  CAVALIER,"  "THE 

MASTER  OF  WARLOCK,"  "EVELYN  BYRD,"  "A  DAUGHTER 

OF  THE   SOUTH,"  "BLIND  ALLEYS,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED  BY  HERMANN  HEYER 


NEW  YORK 
GROSSET    &    DUNLAP 

PUBLISHERS 


Published,  August,  1907 


COPYRIGHT,  1907,  BY  LOTHROP,  LEE  &  SHEPARD  Co. 

All  rights  reserved 
LOVB  Is  THE  SUM  OP  IT  ALL 


BBRWICK  &  SMITH  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass. 

U.  S.  A. 


I  INSCRIBE  THIS   BOOK  WITH   SINCERE 
AFFECTION  TO 


WHO  WROTE  THE  MUSICAL  SCORE  TO  THE  SONG  THAT  GIVES 
THE   BOOK   ITS   TITLE,   AND   TO 


Jessie  Stanlep 


WHO   HAS  SUNG  THE   SONG   DIVINELY   ON  SEVERAL 

OCCASIONS   BEFORE   THE   MANHATTAN 

BRANCH   OF  THE   DICKENS 

FELLOWSHIP  AND 

ELSEWHERE 


912735 


Contents 


CHAPTn 

I.  A  BELATED  BREAKFAST 

II.  THE  PERPLEXITIES  OF  KATE 

III.  ISAAC'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

IV.  KATE 

V.  HAZEL 

VI.  A  LOVE -SONG  IN  THE  PORCH   . 

VII.  A  PACT  AND  A  PRINCIPLE  . 

VIII.  THE  EVENTS  OF  A  MORNING 

IX.  A  DWARFED  MORNING-GLORY    . 

X.  THE  BIRTH  OF  ACQUAINTANCE  . 

XI.  MEN,  WOMEN,  AND  GENIUS 

XII.  A  REVELATION  FROM  KATE 

XIII.  WARREN  RHETT  STEADIES  His  MIND 

XIV.  THE  TEST  OF  A  WOMAN'S  BEHAVIOR 

XV.  IN  THE  PORCH 

XVI.  A  MIDNIGHT  RIDE       . 

XVII.  KATE'S  DIPLOMACY  AND  MUSHROOMS 

XVIII.  THE  BEGINNING  OF  HAZEL'S  STORY  . 

XIX.  KATE'S  STRATAGEM      . 

XX.  HAZEL'S  INTERFERENCE 

XXI.  WARREN  RHETT'S  SURRENDER    . 

XXII.  THE  REST  OF  HAZEL'S  STORY    . 

XXIII.  A  GENTLEMAN'S  ULTIMATUM 

XXIV.  HAZEL  INTERRUPTS      . 
XXV.  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL   . 


PACK 

I 

23 

44 
59 
7i 
82 
100 

ii3 
124 
141 
161 

175 
185 
196 

211 
234 

243 

255 
281 

293 
312 
321 

347 
372 
382 


Illustrations 


As  SHE    SANG,  RHETT   ROSE  FROM    HIS    CHAIR 

(See  page  93)    .....    Frontispiece 


FACING   PAGE 


A  JOINT  APOLOGY  FROM  HENRY  AND  THE  COOK 
FOR  THE  INEXCUSABLE  MEAGRENESS  OF  THE 
REPAST  ......  IO 

"  PARDON  ME,  I  DIDN'T   KNOW  YOU  GENTLEMEN 

WERE    STILL    AT    WORK    HERE  "  .  .      126 

"  I   NEEDN'T   HESITATE   TO  PAY  YOU  A  TRIBUTE 

OF  FLOWERS,  I  SUPPOSE  "...  256 
HE  MADE  SHORT  WORK  OF  HIS  TALK  WITH  THE 

NEGROES          ......  316 

"  JES'  LIKE  WHITE  FOLKS  "  .  .  .  .  346 


Love  Is  the  Sum  of  It  All 

I 

A     BELATED    BREAKFAST 

THREE  bars  of  the  gate  were  broken. 
The  gate,  in  its  totality,  consisted  of  five 
bars,  after  the  custom  of  orthodox  gates. 

It  stood  open  of  necessity.  How  could  it  do 
otherwise,  seeing  that  its  diagonal  backbone  — 
the  board  that  ran  slantwise  from  its  lower  left- 
hand  corner  to  its  upper  right-hand  corner,  — 
had  yielded  to  the  persistent  persuasions  of  gravity 
and  had  parted  in  the  middle  ? 

The  young  man  who  stood  contemplating  the 
structure  was  dressed  in  a  loosely  careless  fashion, 
though  an  observant  woman,  looking  him  over, 
would  have  seen  that  his  carelessly  worn  garments 
were  made  of  a  superior  cloth  and  fashioned  by 
highly  skilled  hands. 

Women   observe   these  things   closely.     Men 


2       LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

aever  do  ar-los?  they  happen  to  be  tailors  or  de- 
tectives. 

His  trousers  were  worn  inside  his  high  boots, 
the  tops  of  which  reached  nearly  to  his  knees, 
and  were  decorated  —  or  the  reverse  —  with 
mud  stains  in  various  stages  of  drying. 

He  was  a  robust  specimen  of  vigorous  man- 
hood —  approaching  thirty  years  of  age  —  fully 
six  feet  high  even  if  the  boots  had  been  removed, 
and  well  proportioned  as  to  breadth  of  chest  and 
size  of  limb.  For  head- piece  he  wore  a  limp  felt 
hat  which  had  never  had  any  particular  shape, 
and  had  lost  that. 

His  appearance  and  attitude  were  suggestive 
of  the  intentional  deliberateness  of  a  man  ac- 
customed to  vigorous  and,  if  need  be,  hurried 
activity.  His  mood  at  this  moment  was  a  delib- 
erate, observant  one.  His  habit  was  to  decide 
quickly  and  to  act  as  the  lightning  flash  does. 

Turning  his  gaze  from  the  gate,  he  ran  his  eye 
along  the  fence  that  was  supposed  to  enclose  the 
house  grounds  of  the  the  old  Southern  mansion. 

"  The  march  of  improvement  is  still  slow 
here,"  he  said  to  himself,  with  a  half -laugh. 


A  BELATED  BREAKFAST  3 

"  When  I  was  last  here  that  fence  had  five  breaks 
in  it.  It  has  nine  now.  In  any  other  part  of  the 
world  the  breaks  would  have  multiplied  much 
faster  than  that."  Then  after  a  minute  of  medi- 
tation, he  added: 

"  I  wonder  what  it  was  ever  built  for,  anyhow? 
There  is  nothing  for  it  to  shut  out  or  shut  in,  and 
if  there  were,  it  utterly  fails  of  its  function  by 
reason  of  the  breaks  in  it  and  the  decrepit  condi- 
tion of  the  gate." 

At  that  moment  the  young  man  caught  sight  of  a 
negro  within  the  house  grounds  who  was  lazily 
trying  to  persuade  himself  that  he  was  busy 
weeding  out  a  flower-bed. 

The  young  man  walked  over  to  the  bed  and  for 
a  time  stood  behind,  watching  the  negro  who 
seemed  to  be  deliberating  over  a  little  bunch  of 
yellow  dock  that  grew  detrimentally  among  the 
flowering  plants. 

"  I  think  on  the  whole  I'd  pull  it  up,  Henry," 
he  said,  presently. 

At  the  sound  of  the  voice  the  young  negro 
sprang  to  his  feet  with  the  first  show  of  energy 
that  he  had  given  for  hours,  and  the  greeting  be- 


4     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

tween  the  two  was  cordial  in  the  extreme,  in  spite 
of  its  informality. 

In  those  old  days  that  seemed  so  long  gone  by, 
Henry  had  been  body-servant  to  Warren  Rhett. 
Better  still,  they  two  —  master  and  servant  — 
had  been  companions  in  many  a  'coon  hunt, 
and  devoted  friends  —  each  in  his  place  as  su- 
perior or  inferior,  and  neither  ever  questioning 
the  superiority  or  the  inferiority  in  the  pure  de- 
mocracy of  their  comradery.  The  superiority  and 
the  inferiority  were  real,  and  both  the  white  and 
the  black  recognized  the  actuality.  It  was  alto- 
gether well. 

After  that  time  Warren  Rhett  had  gone  away 
into  the  great  world  and  had  done  things  there, 
it  was  rumored  on  the  old  plantation,  while  Henry 
had  remained,  rejoicing  in  his  slow  promotion 
from  dining-room  boy  to  head  dining-room  serv- 
ant at  Mannamac,  the  plantation  birthplace 
of  both. 

Not  until  the  greeting  was  over,  not  until  the 
white  man  and  the  negro  had  affectionately  and 
fraternally  asked  all  possible  questions,  each 
concerning  the  well-being  of  the  other,  did  Warren 


A  BELATED  BREAKFAST          5 

Rhett  ask  concerning  the  "  Great  House  "  and 
its  inmates — or  inmate,  for  he  knew  of  but  one. 
He  had  observed  outgoing  carriage  tracks  at  the 
gate  and  no  incoming  ones.  He  knew,  therefore, 
that  his  stepmother  had  driven  away  that  morn- 
ing and  had  not  returned,  and  when  he  revealed 
this  inference  of  acumen  to  Henry,  that  ardent 
admirer  of  his  superiority  promptly  assumed  the 
wondering  mood  of  mind  that  secures  success  to 
a  Sherlock  Holmes  story. 

"  Where  has  my  mother  gone  ? "  the  young 
man  asked. 

"Your  mother,  Mas'  Warren  1"  half-asked 
and  half-ejaculated  the  negro  youth,  "  Why,  you 
know  you  ain't  got  no  mother." 

"  Well,  yes,  I  know  that.  I  mean  my  step- 
mother, Mrs.  Rhett." 

1  Now  that's  funny,  Mas'  Warren,"  answered 
the  negro,  laughing.  "  You  see  you  an'  Miss 
Kate  was  boy  an'  girl  together,  you  bein'  older'n 
she  was.  So  it  do  seem  funny  when  you  calls 
her  your  mother." 

Warren  Rhett  had  thrown  himself  down  upon 
the  grass  —  lying  face  downward,  with  head  and 


6      LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

shoulders  supported  by  his  elbows,  a  posture  that 
had  been  a  favorite  one  with  him  in  boyhood. 
Henry  was  laboriously  and  very  slowly  formulat- 
ing the  thought,  "  It's  like  ole  times  to  see  him 
lay  that  way  on  the  grass,"  when  the  young 
white  man  interrupted  the  intellectual  effort  by 
saying : 

"  I  suppose  you  never  heard  of  atavism,  did 
you,  Henry  ?  " 

"No.    What's  that?" 

"  Never  mind  what  it  is.  You've  got  it  and 
you've  got  it  bad.  Didn't  they  teach  you  in 
school  to  talk  like  white  folks?  And  didn't  they 
specially  impress  upon  your  mind  that  as  a  man 
and  a  brother,  you  owed  it  to  yourself  never  to 
call  any  white  man  master?  Of  course  they 
instructed  you  to  say  '  Mister '  instead  —  and 
they  didn't  tell  you,  because  they  didn't  know, 
that  *  Mister '  is  precisely  the  same  word  as 
*  Master,'  though  meanly  and  unworthily  spelled." 

"  Now  look  a  heah,  Mas'  Warren,  you'se  at 
your  ole  jokin'  tricks  agin.  You  know  a  po' 
nigga'  like  me  don't  know  what  any  o'  dem  big 
words  means.  But  if  you  mean  I'm  to  implicate 


A  BELATED  BREAKFAST        7 

all  dem  schoolmasters,  an'  call  you  '  Mr.  Rhett ' 
instead  o'  '  Mas'  Warren,'  why  you  kin  jes'  tell 
de  schoolmasters  to  go  to  de  devil ! " 

"  Thank  you,"  said  the  young  man,  under- 
standing. "  I'll  not  trouble  to  deliver  the  message 
to  the  worthy  pedagogues  —  that  means  school- 
masters, Henry.  But  you  haven't* told  me  yet 
where  Mrs.  Rhett  is." 

"  Oh,  she's  done  gone  away  to  a  dinin'  day, 
an*  a  stay  all  night,  over  at  de  abandoned  place 
'tother  side  o'  the  river." 

"  The  abandoned  place  ?  What  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Well,  maybe  that  ain't  its  right  name.  It's 
de  place  where  de  Bandons  is  come  to  live.  It's 
de  same  we  used  to  call  Cassatts." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  see.  You  mean  Bandonnais ;  new- 
comers have  bought  it,  and  renamed  it." 

"  Dat's  jes'  ezac'ly  it.  Well,  she's  done  gone 
over  thah  to  dine  an'  stay  all  night,  an'  maybe 
everi  longer  —  I  dunno.  Anyhow  she  tole  me 
not  to  bother  'bout  meals  to-day  at  Mannamac. 
She  said  she'd  be  home  when  she  got  home,  or 
somethin'  like  that.  You  see  they's  what  Miss 
Kate  calls,  a  fascinatin'  young  lady  a  stayin' 


8      LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

here,  and  they  went  over  to  dine  at  de  abandoned 
place." 

"  Oh,  there  is,  is  there?  Well,  we  won't  bother 
to  talk  about  her  just  yet.  You  see  it  is  now 
twelve  o'clock,  noon,  and  I  haven't  had  a  mouthful 
of  breakfast  yet." 

The  negro 'sprang  to  his  feet,  appalled,  horrified, 
distressed  to  the  centres  of  his  hospitable  being. 

Henry  was  a  Virginian,  with  a  pedigree.  For 
two  hundred  years,  or  nearly  that,  his  forebears 
had  been  house  servants  at  Mannamac.  For 
two  hundred  years,  or  nearly  that,  they  had 
learned  the  lessons  of  hospitality  which  every 
Virginia  plantation  house  inculcated  by  virtue  of 
its  very  existence.  If  Warren  Rhett  had  come 
to  Mannamac  as  the  veriest  stranger  at  any  time 
during  all  those  two  hundred  years,  the  first 
instinct  of  the  place  —  whether  in  black  or  white 
—  would  have  been  to  offer  him  food  and  drink, 
quite  irrespective  of  the  time  of  day,  or  of  his 
quality,  or  of  anything  else.  And  here  young 
Warren  Rhett,  son  of  the  house,  long-time  de- 
scendant of  its  ancient  owners,  and  himself  poten- 
tial master  there,  had  been  kept  for  an  hour  or 


A  BELATED  BREAKFAST  9 

more  without  his  breakfast  and  without  even  an 
inquiry  as  to  his  possible  hunger. 

Henry  was  horrified!  But  young  Rhett  was 
self-composed. 

"  Don't  get  excited,  Henry,"  he  said.  "  Go 
and  get  me  some  breakfast  instead.  I  suppose 
there's  a  knuckle  of  cold  ham  about,  and  that'll 
serve  for  a  relish.  But  I  am  really  hungry.  So 
see  if  you  can't  get  me  a  roe  herring  and  a  pone 
of  corn  bread  and  a  pitcher  of  buttermilk.  Let 
me  have  the  ham  and  a  pot  of  coffee  first,  just 
to  amuse  me  while  the  cook  is  getting  the  other 
things  ready.  And  by  the  way,  I  suppose  the 
tomatoes  are  ripe.  Let  me  have  two  or  three  of 
them, —  good,  firm,  fat  fellows,  well  ripened,  but 
not  soft,  —  and  don't  you  dare  slice  or  dress  them. 
You  see  I'm  an  invalid,  and  must  be  careful 
about  what  I  eat." 

The  jest  was  lost  upon  Henry.  The  enormous 
breakfast  ordered,  seemed  to  him,  with  his  life- 
long familiarity  with  healthy  Virginia  appetites, 
an  exceedingly  modest  and  moderate  repast,  well- 
suited  to  the  needs  of  an  invalid. 

"  Fm  sorry  you'se  sick,  Mas'  Warren,"  he  said 


io    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

as  he  hurried  away,  "  but  'twont  take  us  long  to 
build  you  up  again  if  you'll  only  stay  here  at 
Mannamac." 

With  that  generously  recuperative  purpose  the 
servitor  hurried  away,  and  when,  a  little  later,  the 
breakfast  was  served  in  the  broad  front  porch 
under  the  honeysuckles,  there  were  added  to  it 
some  hot  griddle-cakes,  some  soft  boiled  eggs, 
a  dish  of  radishes,  some  young  onions,  a  lettuce 
salad,  and  a  joint  apology  from  Henry  and  the 
cook  for  the  inexcusable  meagreness  of  the  repast, 
prepared  as  it  had  been  in  a  hurry.  To  set  and 
bake  a  loaf  of  hot,  light  bread  and  a  skillet  of 
rolls  —  traditional  breakfast  necessities  in  Vir- 
ginia —  would  have  required  more  time  than  the 
hospitality  of  Mannamac  could  spare  in  such  an 
emergency;  but,  anyhow,  there  was  a  supply 
of  hot  beaten  biscuit  coming  if  only  Mas'  Warren 
would  "  eat  jest  a  little  slow  to  let  'em  brown." 

"  Mas'  Warren "  had  no  objection  to  eating 
"  jest  a  little  slow."  He  hadn't  tasted  a  beaten 
biscuit  for  years,  and  he  so  far  longed  for  a 
renewal  of  that  gustatory  delight  as  to  be  willing 
to  wait  for  it. 


A    JOINT    APOLOGY    FKOM     HENRY    AND     THE    COOK     FOB    THE    IN 
EXCUSABLE    MEAGRENES8    OF    THE    REPAST.  — Page  10. 


A  BELATED  BREAKFAST         n 

But  apart  from  that  he  had  much  to  think  of, 
and  the  thinking  entertained  him  as  he  sat  there 
in  the  porch  and  meditated  to  the  music  of  the 
bees  and  the  humming-birds  that  were  busy  with 
the  honeysuckles  all  about  him. 

"  What  a  beautiful  conception  of  life  it  was," 
he  reflected,  "  with  its  lavish  abundance,  and  its 
passionate  ministry  to  human  comfort  as  the  one 
thing  in  all  the  world  worthy  of  consideration! 
And  what  a  pity  it  is  that  it  was  so  utterly  un- 
economic and  so  far  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
great  majority  of  mankind !  It  would  be  the 
best  of  all  worlds  to  live  in  if  everybody  could 
breakfast  at  leisure  every  day  amid  honeysuckles 
and  surrounded  by  butterflies  and  bees  and 
humming-birds,  with  six  times  as  much  of  tempting 
food  to  eat  as  any  reasonable  palate  could  desire, 
with  a  perfect  climate  to  breathe  in,  and  with 
no  sense  of  obligation  or  care  or  hurry  to  harass  the 
soul.  How  the  very  memory  of  it  tempts  one  to 
indulgence  regardless  of  consequences !  How 
it  lures  the  soul  to  lethargy  and  the  mind  to 
meditation ! 

"  I  suppose  my  first  concern  ought  to  be  for 


12    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

the  countless  millions  of  toiling  human  beings 
who  cannot  have  even  the  smallest  fraction  of 
the  joy  that  such  a  life  should  bring  with  every 
moment  of  the  living  — but  in  fact  my  first 
thought  is  of  how  to  arrange  matters  so  that  Kate 
shall  not  be  compelled  to  give  up  all  that  remains 
of  it  and  lapse  into  some  more  wisely  economic 
way  of  living  that  must  rob  life  —  so  far  as  she 
is  concerned  —  of  all  its  desirability." 

He  sat  still  for  a  time,  sipping  his  coffee  and 
letting  his  soul  rest  in  sensuous  but  psychological 
delight.  Then  he  took  up  the  problem  from  an- 
other point  of  view. 

"  After  all,"  he  asked  himself,  "  what  is  the 
truth  of  the  matter  and  what  is  best,  and  what 
is  right?  I  wonder  if  the  world  would  or  could 
be  in  any  way  bettered  by  any  scheme  for  the 
equalization  of  enjoyment  among  men?  Per- 
haps the  inequality  belongs  to  nature's  scheme 
of  progress  for  the  human  race,  by  means  of  a 
struggle  for  existence  and  the  survival  of  the  fittest. 
Certain  it  is  that  the  cultured  ease  of  this  old 
Southern  life  gave  to  the  American  people  —  yes, 
and  to  the  whole  world,  for  the  whole  world  has 


A  BELATED  BREAKFAST         13 

benefited  by  it  —  the  work  of  Washington  and 
Jefferson  and  Patrick  Henry  and  John  Marshall 
and  James  Madison  and  the  rest.  Is  not  every 
man  now  living  under  American  institutions,  or 
under  the  inspiration  of  those  institutions  in  other 
lands,  —  isn't  every  such  man  the  better  off 
because  Washington  and  Jefferson  and  Madison 
and  the  rest  had  ease  and  leisure  in  which  to 
ripen  their  minds  and  do  the  thinking  that  created 
this  republic  and  its  institutions?  And  has  it 
not  been  well  for  us  that  the  Adamses  of  Massa- 
chusetts, the  Otises,  the  Hancocks,  and  the  rest 
of  that  great  company  of  patriots  were  men  so 
well-to-do  in  the  world  that  they  had  leisure  for 
thought  and  for  that  higher  education  that  comes 
only  with  ease?  Add  Ben  Franklin,  who  had 
made  a  fortune  before  he  began  to  serve  the 
country  in  conspicuous  ways,  and  the  Morrises, 
whose  financial  ability,  acquired  in  the  admin- 
tration  of  their  own  great  possessions,  enabled 
them  to  carry  the  republic  over  the  shoals  of 
bankruptcy  at  the  most  critical  period  of  our 
national  history  —  and  the  question  is  a  fair 
one, —  Do  not  all  the  people  profit  more  by  the 


i4    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

advantages  the  well-to-do  enjoy,  than  they  would 
by  any  possible  scheme  of  equalization?  Isn't 
nature's  scheme  best,  after  all  —  the  scheme  of 
struggle  with  the  reward  of  advantage  for  those 
who  win  in  the  struggle?  " 

At  that  point  in  his  meditations  Warren  Rhett 
was  interrupted  by  the  advent  of  a  process  server. 
The  man  explained  that,  while  the  lawyers  con- 
cerned and  their  clients  also  were  exceedingly 
reluctant  to  make  themselves  in  any  way  disagree- 
able to  Mrs.  Rhett,  they  felt  bound  to  protect 
their  own  interests,  and  really,  at  the  rate  at  which 
things  seemed  to  be  going  to  the  bad  on  Manna- 
mac  plantation,  they  had  no  choice  but  to  levy 
upon  the  small  droves  of  hogs  and  the  smaller 
flocks  of  sheep  which  the  negroes  of  the  region 
round  about  were  nightly  depleting  in  aid  of  an 
evangelistic  "  revival "  at  that  time  in  progress. 
Delay  in  making  the  levy  might  soon  and  easily 
result,  the  bailiff  explained,  in  there  being  no 
herds  or  flocks  left  to  levy  upon. 

"  Henry,"  said  Rhett,  assuming  the  duties  of 
host,  "  bring  a  decanter  of  spirits  for  this  gentle- 
man, and  some  pipes." 


A  BELATED  BREAKFAST         15 

When  the  agent  of  the  law  was  served  with  the 
refreshment,  Rhett  turned  to  him  and  said  : 

"  I  wish  you'd  tell  me  all  you  know  of  the  con- 
dition of  things  here.  You  see,  I've  come  to 
find  out  and,  if  possible,  to  remedy  whatever  is 
wrong." 

The  bailiff  laughed,  inwardly.  Then  he  said : 
"  I  reckon  'most  everything's  gone  to  pieces 
round  here.  Fact  is  it's  a  race  now  to  see  who'll 
get  what  there  is  left  of  personal  property.  You 
see  things  have  gone  at  such  loose  ends  for  so  long 
that  it's  come  to  be  a  scramble  for  the  leavings. 
I  met  Mrs.  Rhett's  carriage  this  morning,  and  if 
I'd  'a'  done  my  duty  I'd  'a'  levied  upon  the  horses. 
But  she's  such  a  nice  young  lady  and  —  well,  I 
just  couldn't  make  the  levy  when  I  knew  she  was 
on  her  way  to  a  dining  day.  So  I  thought  I'd 
come  over  here  and  levy  on  the  hogs  and  sheep 
instead." 

"  Whose  claim  is  it  you're  set  to  satisfy?  " 

Rhett  asked  the  question  quite    indifferently, 

as  if  his  interest  in  the  reply  were  altogether  casual 

and  impersonal.    Then  suddenly  reassuming  his 

more  habitual  method  of  procedure,  —  that  of 


1 6    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

a  man  accustomed  to  do  things  and  get  things 
done, —  he  turned  upon  the  bailiff  and  asked: 

"  Who  is  the  lawyer  for  the  people  you  repre- 
sent?" 

"  Mr.  Charles  Danforth,  sir;  and  he  is  really 
distressed  —  " 

"  I  can  very  well  understand  that,  "  interrupted 
Rhett  with  a  laugh  which  he  hastily  suppressed. 
"  Never  mind  about  that.  Now  let  me  explain. 
/  suppose  I  own  this  plantation  if  anybody  does. 
I  don't  know.  I  have  no  control  over  it  for  the 
present,  but  I  think  I  can  have  whenever  I  please. 
The  claims  are  all  personal,  and  only  the  personal 
property  is  liable  for  them !  The  plantation  itself 
is  in  no  way  responsible  and  cannot  be  held 
responsible.  Charley  Danforth  is  too  good  a 
lawyer  not  to  understand  that.  Besides  that,  / 
am  in  no  way  liable  for  any  of  these  claims,  and 
Charley  Danforth  knows  that,  too." 

The  bailiff  chuckled  in  a  way  that  irritated 
Rhett,  and  replied: 

"  I  reckon  you're  right  about  that,  and  I  reckon 
that's  what  bothers  him.  You  see  —  " 

In  that  tone  which  he  had  acquired  during 


A  BELATED  BREAKFAST         17 

years  in  the  command  of  men,  Rhett  inter- 
rupted : 

"  I  didn't  ask  your  opinion  or  your  comments. 
Reserve  them,  please.  Listen  to  me.  I  want  all 
this  thing  stopped  right  now,  and  I  am  going  to 
stop  it  right  now.  You  are  not  to  make  any  levies 
under  the  executions  you  have  in  your  breast- 
pocket. Instead  of  that,  you  are  to  carry  a  note 
from  me  to  Charley  Danforth  which  —  I  promise 
you  —  will  relieve  you  of  all  responsibility  in  the 
matter  and  hold  you  harmless.  I  think  you  know 
who  I  am,  and  that  my  promise  is  good  for  its 
face  value  ?  " 

"  That's  all  right,"  answered  the  bailiff,  surrep- 
titiously pouring  another  drink  of  the  rare  old 
peach  brandy  upon  the  honey  that  already  oc- 
cupied the  bottom  of  his  glass,  and  lovingly  stirring 
the  mixture;  "that's  all  right,  and  I'm  mighty 
glad  to  settle  the  thing  that  way.  You  see  even  a 
fellow  like  me  don't  find  it  a  nice  sort  o'  business 
to  go  round  levyin'  on  stock  an'  persecutin'  a  lady 
like  Mrs.  Rhett.  That's  why  I  didn't  execute  on 
the  carriage  horses.  You  see  it's  awful  hard  on 
us  fellers  —  " 


1 8    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"^Have  just  a  taste  more  of  the  peach  and 
honey,"  interrupted  Rhett,  "and  while  you're 
absorbing  it,  I'll  write  the  note  to  Danforth. 
Henry,  bring  me  some  stationery — pens,  ink,  and 
paper, with  envelopes,  —  don't  you  understand  ?  " 

Presently  Henry  apologetically  brought  his 
mistress's  lap  writing-desk,  and  Rhett  found 
within  it  a  half -ream  of  highly  expensive,  embossed 
paper,  with  envelopes  to  match. 

"  The  paper  and  envelope,"  he  reflected, 
11  must  cost  a  good  deal  more  than  the  postage 
stamp,  every  time  Kate  writes  a  note,  even  if  she 
confines  herself  to  a  single  sheet  of  utterance  —  a 
thing  she  couldn't  do  to  save  her  life.  I  remember 
once  she  wrote  me  a  '  note '  to  tell  me  she  had  a 
pansy  in  blossom,  and  she  used  up  ten  sheets  of 
paper  in  the  process." 

At  that  moment  his  eye  lighted  upon  a  sheet  of 
the  letter-paper,  upon  which  Kate  had  made 
memoranda  with  respect  to  some  proposed  church 
fair  —  memoranda,  of  cake,  sandwiches,  pickles, 
preserves,  nasturtium  seeds,  and  the  like,  which 
she,  presumably,  intended  to  furnish  for  the 
occasion.  He  did  not  follow  up  the  search.  He 


A  BELATED  BREAKFAST          19 

was  too  truly  a  gentleman  for  that  —  but  he  could 
not  help  seeing  that  there  were  many  other  sheets 
of  the  costly  paper,  covered  in  like  fashion  with 
memoranda  that  might  as  well  have  been  made 
upon  foolscap,  or  still  better,  on  a  five-cent  pad. 
But  in  all  the  recesses  of  the  desk  he  found  no 
scrap  of  ordinary  paper,  no  sheet  upon  which  a 
duchess  might  not  have  been  proud  to  write  her 
invitations  to  dinner. 

"  I  think  I  understand  the  situation,"  he  said  to 
himself,  "  and  I  think  I  shall  be  safe  in  assuming 
all  responsibility  —  now  that  I  am  to  be  in 
charge." 

So,  on  one  of  the  sheets  of  embossed  paper, 
in  the  absence  of  anything  less  costly,  he  wrote: 

"  DEAR  CHARLEY:  —  I've  come  down  here  to 
straighten  out  Kate's  affairs.  I've  told  your 
bailiff  not  to  serve  his  executions,  and  that  I  would 
hold  him  harmless.  I'm  sending  you  this  note  by 
him.  Kate's  away,  to  be  gone  overnight.  Please 
come  over  and  spend  the  night  with  me,  so  that 
I  may  get  the  hang  of  things  here.  And  in  the 
meantime,  if  there  are  any  other  lawyers  at  the 


20    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

county- seat,  who  have  judgments  against  Kate, 
please  tell  them  to  hold  up  their  executions  and 
processes  and  all  that  kind  of  thing  till  I  can  see 
them.  Tell  them  I  make  myself  personally 
responsible  for  everything  to  the  extent  of  the 
plantation's  value.  I  don't  suppose  that's  legal, 
but  it's  good  faith  anyhow,  and  between  you  and 
me,  good  faith  is  better  than  a  document  '  signed, 
sealed,  and  delivered.'  Of  course  you  and  I  don't 
want  Kate  bedevilled.  Come  over  and  we'll 
arrange  things." 

The  bailiff  took  the  note,  after  still  another 
drink  of  peach  and  honey,  and  two  hours  later 
a  negro  messenger  brought  a  letter  from  Charles 
Danforth  to  Warren  Rhett,  in  which  the  writer 
said: 

"  Welcome,  old  fellow !  I'll  be  with  you  at 
supper.  It's  a  good  thing  that  you've  come  down 
here — good  for  Kate  and  especially  good  for 
me.  I  have  already  imperilled  my  position  at 
the  bar  in  my  efforts  to  protect  her  against  the 
interests  of  my  own  clients.  The  situation  has 
been  horrible.  So,  apart  from  the  joy  I  shall 


A  BELATED  BREAKFAST         21 

feel  in  being  with  you  again,  I  send  you  a  cordial 
welcome. 

"I'll  be  at  Mannamac  by  eight  o'clock  —  or  at 
any  rate  before  nine  —  for  supper  and  the  night." 

Rhett  read  the  note  with  a  smile. 

"  It's  a  funny  situation,"  he  said  to  himself. 
"  Charley  was  madly  in  love  with  Kate  before  she 
was  married.  I  doubt  that  he  has  quite  got  over 
it  yet  - —  especially  now  that  she's  a  widow ;  and 
yet,  as  a  lawyer  he  has  had  to  do  all  sorts  of  dis- 
agreeable things  to  her.  It's  funny,  though 
tragic.  I  wonder  he  doesn't  solve  the  riddle  by 
marrying  her.  Still,  I  don't  know.  That  would 
put  him  in  the  complicated  position  of  being  him- 
self defendant  when  he's  already  counsel  for  the 
plaintiff.  Yes,  it's  a  funny  situation  all  around." 

Then  suddenly  another  thought  arose  in  his 
mind.  "  I  wonder  how  far  or  for  how  much  I 
have  made  myself  liable  by  that  letter  of  mine? 
I  have  a  shadowy  impression  that  a  promise, 
without  consideration,  to  pay  the  debt  of  another 
is  not  legally  binding.  But  I  don't  know  just 
what  constitutes  a  consideration  in  the  legal 
sense.  Besides,  in  such  a  case,  the  law  cuts  no 


22     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

figure.  I  suppose  that  in  honor  I  have  made 
myself  liable  for  Kate's  debts,  at  least  up  to  the 
value  of  the  plantation.  Anyhow,  I  mean  to 
see  her  through.  I  wonder  how  much  she  owes. 
I've  a  notion  to  ride  over  to  '  the  abandoned 
place,'  as  Henry  calls  it,  and  ask  her.  Henry 
suggests  that  there  is  a  fascinating  young  woman 
with  her,  so  there  might  be  worse  ways  of  spending 
the  evening.  There!  That's  another  case  of 
atavism.  It  has  been  years  since  I  thought  of 
calling  the  afternoon  *  evening,'  and  yet  I  find 
myself  reverting  to  the  usage,  before  I've  been  in 
the  old  atmosphere  long  enough  to  take  a  second 
meal.  That  reminds  me  of  my  manners.  Henry 
said  there  was  a  *  dining  day  '  over  there.  That 
means  dinner  at  four  o'clock,  with  every  table 
seat  '  reserved.'  I  should  be  an  unwelcome  and 
unmannerly  intruder  upon  the  carefully  prear- 
ranged festivity.  Besides,  I  doubt  that  there  is 
a  riding- horse  on  the  plantation.  On  the  whole  — " 
On  the  whole  he  went  to  sleep  in  a  great, 
roomy,  oaken  armchair  in  the  porch,  thus  again 
reverting  to  the  customs  that  had  been  prevalent 
there  for  generations  past. 


II 

THE  PERPLEXITIES  OF  KATE 

IT  was  not  altogether  in  jest  that  Rhett  had 
spoken  of  himself  to  Henry  as  an  invalid.  He 
had  in  fact  been  overworking  in  unwholesome 
surroundings.  He  had  spent  many  hours  through- 
out many  weeks  and  months  in  tunnel  headings. 
He  had  stood  for  many  days  throughout  many 
other  months  in  trenches,  cuts,  and  deep  excava- 
tions, up  to  his  knees  and  sometimes  up  to  his 
thighs  in  mud  that  reeked  of  miasm.  Strong 
man  that  he  was,  he  had  endured  these  exposures, 
but  little  by  little  they  had  begun  to  tell  upon 
him.  Of  late,  he  had  had  strange  unaccustomed 
headaches,  with  lassitude  and  loss  of  appetite  as 
an  accompaniment.  In  short,  he  had  found 
himself  in  that  physical  condition  which  is  famil- 
iarly known  as  "  run  down,"  as  if  a  man  were  a 
clock. 

In  obedience  to  the  advice  of  his  wise  young 
23 


24    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

doctor  friends,  he  had  taken  a  little  vacation  in 
the  Adirondacks,  incidentally  catching  some  fish 
that  were  worth  talking  about.  That  not  sufficing, 
he  had  made  a  little  trip  to  Bermuda  and  another 
to  the  Azores,  but  on  his  return  he  had  found 
the  headaches  and  the  lassitude  still  his  com- 
panions, and  in  addition  a  certain  cough  had 
come  upon  him.  Concerning  that,  he  had  con- 
sulted a  specialist,  who,  after  a  variety  of  sound- 
ings and  thumpings  and  listenings  and  all  the 
rest  of  it,  had  given  his  pronouncement  in  this 
fashion : 

"  There  isn't  a  thing  the  matter  with  your 
lungs.  You  have  a  slightly  elongated  uvula,  but 
the  elongation  is  not  of  enough  consequence  to 
justify  me  in  clipping  off  the  offending  member. 
Your  trouble  is  partly  malarious  and  partly 
nervous.  Generous  food  will  combat  the  malaria, 
but  for  the  nervous  disturbance  there  is  no  remedy 
but  a  prolonged  rest.  Why  don't  you  go  down 
to  Virginia  for  a  year  —  you  tell  me  you've  some 
sort  of  old  home  down  there  —  and  get  the  rest 
and  good  feeding  you  need  ?  " 

Things  sometimes  fall  out  as  they  should  do, 


THE  PERPLEXITIES  OF  KATE     25 

even  in  this  ill-ordered  world  of  ours,  and  they 
did  so  in  this  case.  It  happened  that  Warren 
Rhett  had  just  completed  a  piece  of  engineering 
construction  which  had  agreeably  fattened  his 
bank-account.  It  happened  that  there  was  no 
other  immediate  job  in  sight  that  tempted  his 
tired  mind.  Most  important  of  all,  it  happened 
that  he  had  that  morning  received  a  letter  from 
his  very  young  stepmother  and  old  playmate, 
entreating  him  to  come  to  her  and  extricate  her 
from  difficulties  with  which  she  needlessly  assured 
him  she  was  quite  unable  to  cope. 

"  The  idea  of  Kate  dealing  with  a  difficulty,"  he 
laughed,  "or  extricating  herself  from  a  financial 
embarrassment  of  any  kind,  is  too  ridiculous  to 
be  accepted,  even  if  presented  as  a  jest  in  pro- 
fessedly comic  opera.  After  all,  why  shouldn't 
I  run  down  there  for  a  time  and  straighten  out 
her  affairs  ?  I've  nothing  of  consequence  on  hand, 
and  I  suppose  the  doctors  are  right  in  ordering 
me  to  take  a  rest.  Anyhow,  Kate  is  a  dear  good 
girl,  and  she  needs  help,  and  I  can  afford  a  vaca- 
tion at  Mannamac." 

Warren  Rhett  was  the  son  and  only  child  of 


26    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

an  old  Virginia  planter.  He  had  come  into  the 
world  about  the  time  at  which  the  Civil  War  came 
to  an  end.  The  family  seat,  Mannamac,  had 
been  so  fortunately  placed,  geographically,  that 
it  had  pretty  completely  escaped  spoliation  by 
the  military  forces  on  either  side  of  the  great  con- 
flict. 

So  when  Warren  Rhett's  father,  Col.  Lasseter 
Rhett,  returned  to  his  plantation  after  the  sur- 
render of  Lee's  army  at  Appomattox,  he  found 
everything  as  he  had  left  it,  except  that  the  negroes 
were  free. 

The  plantation  —  embracing  several  thousand 
acres — remained,  and  it  was  Col.  Lasseter  Rhett's 
plan  to  convert  the  broad  domain  into  a  "  landed 
estate  "  of  the  English  sort ;  to  divide  the  arable 
lands  into  farms  of  convenient  size,  letting  them 
to  the  negroes  who  had  been  "  born  and  raised  " 
on  the  plantation,  and  thus  to  continue  the  old 
patriarchal  life  in  its  essentials,  if  not  quite  in 
its  previously  existing  form.  The  acres  were 
many  and  fertile,  and  they  were  well  placed  for 
division  into  little  farms.  It  was  Col.  Lasseter 
Rhett's  plan  to  establish  tenants  upon  most  of 


THE  PERPLEXITIES  OF  KATE    27 

them,  reserving  the  fields  near  the  great  house  for 
cultivation  by  hired  negro  field  hands,  under  his 
own  direction. 

Colonel  Rhett  was  accustomed  to  believe  im- 
plicitly in  his  ideas  and  to  act  upon  them.  His 
first  step,  therefore,  was  to  employ  a  surveyor  to 
lay  out  the  farms,  and  his  next  to  build  a  com- 
fortable cabin  on  each  of  them,  and  to  dig  for 
each  a  well. 

His  plan  met  with  disappointments.  Not  many 
of  the  negroes  consented  to  undertake  the  culti- 
vation of  farms  on  their  own  account.  Not  many 
of  them  had  the  ambition,  the  instinct  of  enter- 
prise to  do  so.  The  greater  number  of  them  were 
dazed  and  dazzled  by  their  new-found  freedom. 
They  vaguely  understood  that  they  were  to  be 
free  "  like  white  folks,"  thereafter,  and  their  con- 
ception, both  of  the  freedom  and  of  the  likeness 
to  white  folks,  was  that  they  should  live  at  ease, 
without  toil.  That,  as  they  understood  it,  was 
the  measure  and  test  of  freedom.  Precisely  how 
they  were  to  live  without  work,  they  did  not  pause 
to  inquire.  Perhaps  the  government  that  had 
set  them  free  would  take  care  of  that.  Why 


28    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

should  it  not  do  so?  Was  it  not  omnipotent? 
And  had  it  not  the  power  to  manufacture  money 
without  limit  ?  Was  not  it  their  new  master,  upon 
whom  to  lean  as  they  had  been  accustomed  to 
lean  upon  their  old  masters? 

The  one  obvious  way  to  accept  and  enjoy  free- 
dom was  to  quit  the  work  they  had  been  required 
to  do  in  slavery. 

To  many  others  among  them  the  obvious  way 
to  accept  and  assert  their  newly  acquired  freedom 
was  to  quit  the  plantations  to  whose  boundaries 
the  slave  system  had  limited  their  residence,  and 
to  go  elsewhere.  These  were  lured  by  their 
gregarious  instincts  to  the  cities,  and  the  cities 
also  tempted  them  with  noise  and  glare  and 
glitter,  and  with  a  promise  of  the  excitement  for 
which  their  childish  souls  hungered  and  thirsted. 
They  had  seen  city  negroes  now  and  then, 
dandies,  smartly  dressed  in  the  well  "  tailored  " 
cast-off  clothing  of  their  employers,  and  still 
more  smartly  equipped  with  self-assertive  man- 
ners borrowed  from  the  same  source  of  supply, 
and  they  could  not  help  envying  these  fortunate 
ones  of  the  earth.  Many  a  gawky,  lumbering, 


THE  PERPLEXITIES  OF  KATE    29 

plantation  negro,  with  big  feet  and  shapeless 
hands  and  muscularly  ungraceful  form,  fell  into 
the  mistake  of  supposing  that  it  was  only  necessary 
for  him  to  migrate  to  a  city  in  order  to  transform 
himself  into  one  of  these  admirable  beings.  And 
many  of  these  mistaken  ones  starved  in  the  process 
of  learning  how  great  a  mistake  he  had  made  in 
quitting  the  plantation. 

A  few,  a  very  few  of  the  most  trustworthy  of 
Colonel  Rhett's  old  field  hands  —  most  of  them 
middle-aged  or  elderly  men  with  families  —  be- 
came tenants  of  his  farms,  agreeing  to  pay  a  por- 
tion of  their  agricultural  produce  in  lieu  of  rent. 
In  the  main  these  depended  upon  their  grown  or 
half-grown  children  to  help  them  out  as  laborers 
upon  the  farms  thus  rented.  In  the  main  they 
were  disappointed  by  the  fact  that  the  younger 
ones,  upon  whom  they  depended  for  labor,  migrated 
to  the  cities  instead,  leaving  them  to  make  such 
meagre  crops  as  they  could,  and  leaving  Colonel 
Rhett  with  a  rent  return  so  small  that  it  did  not 
pay  the  interest  on  the  cost  of  the  improvements 
he  had  put  upon  the  farms. 

Many  of  the  farms  remained  unrented,  and  for 


30    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

the  cultivation  of  these  and  of  the  home  acres, 
he  hired  such  negroes  as  he  could  secure.  A  few 
of  them  fairly  earned  their  wages.  The  rest  were 
an  expense  to  him  rather  than  a  source  of  profit. 
They  plundered  his  orchards  of  fruit  that  he  had 
planned  to  sell  in  northern  markets.  They  robbed 
his  hen-roosts  and  his  pig-pens  and  his  sheepfolds, 
and  even  stripped  his  patches  of  early  corn, 
melons,  beans,  and  vegetables  of  their  yield, 
surreptitiously  selling  the  plunder  in  those  early 
city  markets  to  which  he  had  looked  for  revenue. 

There  remained  a  score  or  two  of  more  or 
less  useless  house  servants  who  loyally  stuck  to 
their  old  master,  literally  "  for  all  he  was  worth," 
and  fared  sumptuously  every  day  upon  his 
bounty. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  elder  Rhett  had  gone  on 
living  as  he  had  done  before  the  war  —  generously, 
and  with  a  lavishness  of  hospitality  which  he  could 
not  afford.  It  was  his  undying  purpose  to  "  live 
like  a  gentleman  "  so  long  as  he  lived  at  all,  and 
he  had  no  other  conception  of  a  gentleman's  way 
of  living  than  the  lordly  one  that  he  daily  practised. 
In  maintaining  that,  he  drew  upon  such  resources 


THE  PERPLEXITIES  OF  KATE    31 

as  he  possessed,  outside  the  plantation,  slowly 
but  surely  depleting  them  to  the  point  of  exhaus- 
tion. 

His  son  Warren  early  saw  what  the  end  must 
be,  and  personally  set  to  work  to  provide  himself 
with  the  means  of  living  at  all  when  his  father's 
methods  should  have  made  an  end  of  the  means  of 
living  like  a  gentleman.  The  boy  worked  hard 
at  his  books,  and  after  taking  his  degree  at  the 
University  of  Virginia, —  a  thing  he  regarded  as 
useless,  involving  as  it  did  a  considerable  waste 
of  time,  but  a  thing  that  his  conservative  father 
insisted  upon, —  he  went  North  for  a  course  in 
one  of  the  great  schools  of  engineering. 

After  his  graduation  there,  he  went  back  to 
Mannamac  for  a  vacation,  and  while  there  he 
narrowly  escaped  falling  in  love  with  Kate  Oberly, 
his  father's  ward  and  at  the  time  mistress  of 
Mannamac.  Warren  Rhett's  mother  had  died 
during  his  infancy,  and  Col.  Lasseter  Rhett  had 
no  daughter  to  rule  over  his  household.  Things 
there  had  gone  at  loose  ends  until  Kate  Oberly, 
the  orphaned  ward  of  Col.  Lasseter  Rhett,  who 
had  lived  at  Mannamac  from  her  earliest  child- 


32     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

hood,  had  grown  old  enough  to  carry  the  keys 
and  do  the  "  giving  out." 

She  was  scarcely  more  than  a  child  when 
Warren  Rhett  went  away  to  study  engineering, 
and  his  attitude  toward  her  had  been  that  of  an 
older  brother  who  was  also  a  good  comrade. 
When  he  returned,  after  his  graduation  as  an 
engineer,  Kate  had  grown  into  a  charming  young 
womanhood,  without  losing  anything  of  her 
girlish  frankness  and  simplicity.  She  was  utterly 
inconsequent  in  her  methods  of  thinking,  but  the 
inconsequence  was  amusing  and  it  seemed  to 
Warren  an  added  charm. 

Under  other  circumstances  than  those  that 
actually  existed,  he  would  very  certainly  have 
fallen  in  love  with  her.  He  was  saved  from  that 
at  first  by  the  old  boy  and  girl  comradery, 
and  a  little  later,  when  she  saw  that  the  com- 
radery threatened  to  become  something  warmer 
on  his  part,  she  saved  him  again  by  her  frank- 
ness. 

"  Warren,"  she  said  to  him  one  morning, 
apropos  of  some  show  of  tenderness  on  his  part, 
"  you  mustn't  let  yourself  fall  in  love  with  me,  you 


THE  PERPLEXITIES  OF  KATE    33 

know.  You're  inclined  to  do  that,  but  you 
simply  mustn't." 

In  half-bantering  fashion  he  answered: 

"  Without  for  one  moment  admitting  the  truth 
of  your  accusation,  Kate,  and  still  more  emphat- 
ically, without  disputing  it,  may  I  ask  why  I 
should  not  fall  in  love  with  you  if  I  want  to? 
Surely  you  are  a  very  lovable  young  woman,  and 
if  I  fall  a  victim  to  your  charms,  as  many  another 
man  will  doubtless  do,  why  should  I  not  risk  —  " 

She  held  up  her  hand  to  check  his  speech. 

"Hush!"  she  commanded.  "Let  me  tell 
you.  You  mustn't  fall  in  love  with  me  —  though, 
if  things  were  different,  I  should  be  awfully  glad 
to  have  you  do  so,  because  I  don't  know  anybody 
so  nice  as  you  are,  or  so  strong  and  so  manly  — 
but,  as  I  say,  you  simply  mustn't  fall  in  love  with 
me,  —  because.11 

"  Because  what,  Kate?  " 

She  hesitated,  pulling  a  rose  to  pieces  and 
scattering  its  petals  as  if  trying  to  make  a  mosaic 
pattern  of  them  on  the  porch.  Presently  she 
seemed  to  pull  herself  together,  and  with  resolu- 
tion she  said : 


34    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  Your  father  is  going  to  many  me,  Warren.  I 
don't  think  he  ought  to  do  that,  but  I  can't  help  it. 
He  has  told  me  of  his  intentions  and  of  course  —  " 

"  Of  course,  Kate,  I  wish  you  every  joy  in  the 
world,  and  I  will  say  this  honestly,  that  if  my 
father  has  made  up  his  mind  to  marry  anybody, 
I  had  rather  it  should  be  you  than  any  other 
woman  I  know.  I've  just  time  to  say  this,  as  I 
had  a  letter  this  morning  that  calls  me  to  the  north 
at  once.  I'm  sorry  to  miss  seeing  father  to  bid 
him  good-by,  but  he's  gone  away  for  the  day, 
and  I  simply  must  catch  the  earliest  train.  Good- 
by  !  and  God  bless  you !  " 

She  called  him  back  as  he  was  leaving: 

"You  don't  mind?"  she  asked. 

"  I  could  not  think  of  making  myself  my 
father's  rival,"  he  answered. 

"That  isn't  it,"  she  rather  petulantly  inter- 
rupted. "  I  mean,  you  understand  ?  Of  course 
your  father  —  " 

"  Of  course.  I  perfectly  understand.  I  must 
go  now,  or  I'll  miss  my  train.  If  you  are  ever  in 
difficulty  and  need  a  friend,  you  know  whom  to 
call  upon." 


THE  PERPLEXITIES  OF  KATE    35 

A  moment  more  and  he  was  gone.  He  had  not 
kissed  the  girl,  even  in  the  brotherly  fashion  that 
had  once  been  accepted  between  them  as  a  matter 
of  course.  She  was  glad  of  that,  though,  to  save 
her  life,  she  could  not  have  given  a  reason  for  her 
gladness. 

The  letter  that  Warren  said  he  had  received 
that  morning  was  purely  mythical,  as  Kate 
Oberly  would  have  known  if  she  had  questioned 
his  statement  in  her  own  mind.  For  she  had 
herself  distributed  the  contents  of  the  mail-bag 
at  the  breakfast-table,  and  there  had  been  no 
missive  in  it  for  Warren.  It  was  not  her  habit 
of  mind,  however,  to  question  things  in  that 
fashion.  And  besides,  it  was  far  better  that  War- 
ren should  go  away  to  the  north  — better  for  him 
and  for  her,  better  in  every  way. 

A  few  months  later,  Col.  Lasseter  Rhett  carried 
out  his  purpose  of  marrying  his  ward,  Kate  Oberly. 
At  the  time  that  occurred  Warren  Rhett  was  in 
the  mountains  of  Peru,  in  the  double  capacity 
of  expert  engineer  and  superintendent  of  con- 
struction, building  a  railroad  from  the  coast  to  a 
long  abandoned  but  very  rich  Inca  mine  which  his 


36    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

associates  and  employers  intended  to  "  develop." 
He  was  too  far  away  to  attend  the  wedding, 
—he  had  thought  of  that  in  accepting  the  Peruvian 
appointment,— but  he  had  deft  fingers  and  a 
mechanical  knack  that  often  stood  him  in  good 
stead.  Bringing  these  to  bear,  he  took  an  ancient 
goblet  of  virgin  gold,  the  handiwork  of  some 
antique  Inca  goldsmith,  which  was  supposed  to 
have  magic  qualities  of  some  kind,  and  with  his 
own  hands  encircled  it  with  precious  stones,  im- 
bedding them  firmly  in  the  metal  of  the  cup.  This 
he  sent  to  Kate  as  a  wedding-present,  making  a 
jest  of  the  matter  in  an  accompanying  letter  in 
which  he  set  forth  his  own  utter  isolation  there 
in  the  mountains,  and  his  inability  to  find  a  shop 
in  which  to  purchase  any  orderly  gift  for  the 
occasion. 

With  all  her  inconsequence  of  mind,  Kate  had 
understood.  Thus  had  ended  the  first  romance 
in  the  life  of  Warren  Rhett,  and  fortunately  the 
experience  had  left  no  scar. 

A  few  years  later  Col.  Lasseter  Rhett  was 
gathered  to  his  fathers.  At  the  time,  Warren  was 
in  the  Yaqui  country  of  Mexico,  engaged  in 


THE  PERPLEXITIES  OF  KATE   37 

bringing  a  great  scheme  of  irrigation  to  com- 
pletion. His  first  news  of  his  bereavement  did 
not  reach  him  until  a  month  or  two  after  the 
event.  It  came  to  him  in  a  long  delayed  letter 
from  Kate,  in  which  she  explained  the  disposition 
his  father  had  made  of  his  property. 

That  disposition  was  an  entirely  characteristic 
one.  The  lordly  old  gentleman  had  in  no  degree 
realized  his  own  gradual  impoverishment.  In 
his  will,  as  in  his  way  of  living,  he  had  assumed 
that  he  was  the  owner  of  a  great  estate  —  a  man 
who  could  do  as  he  pleased  in  the  generous  dis- 
position of  wealth.  He  had  left  his  plantation, 
Mannamac,  to  his  widow  Kate,  during  her 
natural  life,  subject,  however,  to  a  charge  of  some 
thousands  of  dollars  a  year,  which  were  to  be 
paid  by  her  to  his  only  son,  Warren  Rhett,  to 
whom  he  directed  that  the  plantation  itself,  and 
all  else  that  he  owned,  should  revert  upon  Kate's 
death. 

Poor  Kate !  The  plantation  wasn't  earning  the 
sum  she  was  charged  to  pay,  and  there  was  no 
reason  to  believe  that  it  ever  would  earn  any  such 
sum. 


38    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

Kate  consulted  the  family  lawyer,  —  or,  more 
accurately  speaking,  she  peremptorily  directed 
the  family  lawyer  to  remit  to  Warren  Rhett  the 
sum  to  which  he  was  annually  entitled  under  the 
will.  The  lawyer  told  her  that  there  were  no 
funds  from  which  to  draw  the  amount,  but  the 
information  made  no  impression  upon  her  mind. 

"  That  is  what  Colonel  Rhett  directed,"  she 
answered,  as  if  ending  the  discussion,  "  and 
of  course  we  must  do  what  he  directed." 

"  But,  my  dear  Mrs.  Rhett,"  the  lawyer  pleaded, 
"  the  estate  is  not  earning  any  such  sum,  and 
there  is  no  reserve  fund  anywhere  upon  which  to 
draw  for  it.  I  simply  cannot  —  " 

"  Then  I  don't  see  what  you  are  a  lawyer  for," 
Kate  interrupted.  "  Why,  Colonel  Rhett  directed 
it,  and  of  course  he  knew.  Anyhow,  it  must  be 
done.  It  would  be  awful  to  violate  his  will.  Of 
course  you  see  that  as  clearly  as  I  do,  —  don't 
you?" 

"  Of  course,"  the  lawyer  replied.  "  We  won't 
talk  any  more  about  it.  I'll  arrange  it  some- 
how." 

And  he  did.    He  wrote  to  Warren  Rhett,  ex- 


THE  PERPLEXITIES  OF  KATE    39 

plaining  the  situation,  and  Warren  Rhett  replied, 
suggesting  that  the  lawyer  should  send  him  every 
year  a  formal  document  which  he  would  sign  and 
return,  setting  forth  his  receipt  of  the  money  in 
due  form.  The  delivery  of  this  paper  to  Kate,  he 
pointed  out,  would  satisfy  her  mind  that  Colonel 
Rhett's  last  will  and  testament  was  being  executed 
to  the  letter.  "  Of  course  Kate  will  never  think 
to  inquire  how  or  where  you  got  the  money,"  he 
wrote, "  and  the  main  thing  is  to  keep  her  satisfied 
and  comfortable." 

So  Kate  went  on  living  in  comfort  and  satis- 
faction. The  only  style  of  living  that  she  knew 
anything  about  was  that  which  had  always 
obtained  at  Mannamac,  and  she  continued  that. 
She  kept  a  generously  open  house,  with  four  or 
five  times  as  many  servants  as  were  needed,  and 
these  justly  counted  themselves  as  among  the 
fortunate  ones  of  the  earth.  They  had  no  fixed 
wages,  it  is  true,  but  they  were  in  the  same  case 
with  soldiers  who  are  "  living  off  the  country," 
in  the  enemy's  domain.  They  had  food  in  abun- 
dance from  the  Mannamac  smoke-house  and  the 
Mannamac  storeroom.  Kate  could  not  bear  to 


40    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

have  any  one  about  her  ill-dressed,  and  so  she 
gave  them  clothes  whenever  the  need  arose. 

She  was  particularly  fond  of  good  horses,  and 
she  had  a  stableman  who  always  knew  when 
there  was  a  desirable  animal  for  sale  anywhere 
in  the  neighborhood.  She  availed  herself  of  his 
skill  hi  horse-flesh,  and  did  not  herself  pretend  to 
know  what  price  ought  to  be  paid  for  a  horse. 
"  And  after  all  it  is  a  small  matter,"  she  used  to 
say,  "  as  I  keep  only  a  very  few  riding  animals 
besides  the  carriage-horses.  It  really  can't  matter 
much,  and  Blanton  knows  what  he  ought  to  pay." 

Col.  Lasseter  Rhett  had  been  a  man  of  excellent 
credit.  It  had  always  been  understood,  not  only 
among  the  people  round  about,  but  in  the  office 
of  his  Richmond  commission  merchants,  that 
Colonel  Rhett  was  a  man  well  "  able  to  owe  his 
debts."  This  credit  Kate  inherited  with  the 
plantation,  and  on  the  strength  of  it  she  ordered 
whatever  she  wanted  and  continued  to  live  in  the 
old  way,  while  little  by  little,  for  lack  of  attention 
and  direction,  the  plantation  was  losing  what 
was  left  of  its  earning  capacity. 

The  home  fields  were  cultivated  only  in  such 


THE  PERPLEXITIES  OF  KATE    41 

fashion  as  the  negro  hands  she  hired  saw  fit  to 
bring  to  bear.  Many  of  the  farms  were  without 
tenants,  and  if  a  tenant  was  very  poor  and  had 
"  bad  luck  "  with  his  crops,  Kate  could  not  bring 
her  kindly  soul  to  exact  her  share  of  his  little 
yield  as  her  rent. 

The  story  of  decay  need  not  be  told  in  detail. 
Its  end  was  inevitable.  As  Kate  had  only  a  life 
estate  in  the  land,  it  could  not  serve  as  a  basis  of 
credit  or  as  a  security  for  her  debts.  Her  creditors 
were  many,  and  after  awhile  they  began  to  be 
insistent.  But  it  was  not  until  executions  were 
levied  upon  her  favorite  riding-horses,  that  Kate 
became  seriously  alarmed  and  appealed  to  Warren 
Rhett  for  help  and  guidance. 

He  was  just  finishing  some  construction  work 
in  New  York  when  her  letter  came  to  him.  He 
had  been  successful,  not  only  as  an  engineer,  but 
still  more  as  the  head  of  a  contracting  firm.  He 
had  made  money  enough  to  be  very  comfortable, 
and  his  firm  was  in  the  way  to  go  on  making 
money  with  ease  and  certainty.  But  for  the  time 
being,  he  had  nothing  of  pressing  importance  on 
his  hands,  nothing  that  his  partners  could  not 


42    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

manage  without  his  presence.    In  brief,  the  time 
had  come  when  he  could  conveniently  take  the 
vacation  he  needed. 
Kate  wrote  : 

"  MY  DEAR  WARREN  :  —  I  reckon  you  will  just 
have  to  come  down  here  and  fix  things.  I  don't 
understand  what's  the  matter,  but  these  lawyers 
and  bailiffs  and  people  are  persecuting  me  with 
papers  that  I  don't  know  the  meaning  of,  and  as 
I've  never  done  any  harm  to  anybody,  I  can't  see 
why  they  shouldn't  let  me  alone.  I  didn't  so 
much  mind  so  long  as  it  was  only  papers  and 
things  of  that  kind,  but  —  you'll  hardly  believe 
it,  but  it's  true  —  they  have  actually  come  here 
to  Mannamac  and  carried  away  all  my  horses 
except  the  carriage-horses,  and  a  lot  of  other 
things  of  mine.  I  am  too  badly  bothered  in  my 
mind  to  tell  you  all  the  things  they  have  done,  but 
you  being  a  man,  I  suppose  you  can  guess  at  most 
of  it.  Anyhow,  I  am  pestered  to  death  and  I  want 
you  please  to  come  down  and  stop  them  from 
annoying  me.  You  know  you  wrote  me  a  month 
ago  that  you  thought  of  coming  to  Mannamac 


THE  PERPLEXITIES  OF  KATE    43 

for  a  good  long  rest,  so  I  know  you  can  come  now, 
and  you'll  be  more  welcome  than  I  can  tell  you. 
We  haven't  any  hounds  now  or  any  of  the  setters. 
You  see  I  couldn't  look  after  the  creatures,  so 
I  gave  them  all  away.  But  if  you  want  to  hunt 
while  you  are  here,  I  think  you  might  borrow 
some  dogs,  though  there  aren't  many  about  here 
since  the  big  plantations  were  divided  up  and  sold 
off  in  pieces."  % 

She  added  a  number  of  sheets  over  which  her 
pen  had  travelled  to  no  particular  purpose. 
Upon  reading  the  missive,  Warren  laughed  in  his 
careless  way  and  ejaculated,  "  Poor  Kate !  I 
suppose  I'll  have  to  go  to  her  rescue." 

Thus  it  came  about  that  he  was  now  at  Man- 
namac,  awaiting  the  return  of  its  mistress,  whom 
he  had  not  informed  of  his  coming. 

"  It  would  only  bother  her,"  he  had  said. 


Ill 

ISAAC'S  POINT  OF  VIEW 

WARREN  RHETT  was  not  much  given 
to  somnolence  in  other  hours  than 
those  that  he  spent  in  bed.  Tired  as 
he  was  with  an  all-night  journey  and  with 
his  long  walk  that  morning,  he  did  not  sleep  for 
many  minutes  in  his1  chair  in  the  porch.  When 
he  had  had  his  "  forty  winks,"  he  aroused  him- 
self and  summoned  Henry. 

"  Who  is  head  man  now?  "  he  asked  the  negro. 

"  Ole  Isaac,"  answered  the  servitor. 

"  Do  you  know  where  to  find  him  at  this  hour  ?  " 

Henry  laughed  half-outwardly,  half-inwardly. 
"  Reckon  he's  up  roun'  de  bawn,  'bout  now. 
Leastways  he  ginerally  takes  a  nap  there  'bout 
this  time  of  day." 

Young  Rhett  was  not  surprised.  He  had 
traversed  half  the  cultivated  part  of  the  plantation 
in  his  morning's  approach  to  the  house,  and  his 

44 


ISAAC'S  POINT  OF  VIEW          45 

quick  observation  of  the  fields  and  growing  crops 
—  or  those  that  were  supposed  to  be  growing  — 
had  prepared  him  to  believe  that  not  only  the 
head  man,  but  all  the  men  under  him  were  accus- 
tomed to  sleep  a  good  deal  during  the  daylight 
hours. 

"  Go  and  find  him.  Throw  a  bucket  of  water 
over  him  to  wake  him  up,  and  tell  him  I  want  to 
see  him  here  right  away." 

Henry  departed  on  his  mission  with  an  elasticity 
in  his  step  which  was  suggestive  of  eagerness  to 
obey  his  orders.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  had 
long  been  something  akin  to  war  between  Isaac, 
the  head  man  of  the  fields,  and  Henry,  the  head 
man  in  the  house,  and  Henry  rejoiced  in  an 
errand  that  involved  permission  to  throw  a  pail 
of  water  over  his  sleeping  adversary. 

It  happened,  however,  that  at  this  particular 
time  Isaac  was  not  asleep.  He  had  entered  the 
barn  a  little  while  before,  intent  upon  seeking  his 
midday  repose.  But  a  colony  of  energetic  hornets 
had  recently  established  themselves  there,  and  by 
ill  luck  Isaac  had  managed  in  some  way  to  disturb 
their  adverse  possession.  When  Henry  reached 


46    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

the  barn  Isaac  was  diligently  engaged  in  an  effort 
to  effect  a  retreat  without  incidental  destruction, 
while  the  hornets  were  opposing  that  strategic 
endeavor  with  all  the  generalship  they  could 
bring  to  bear.  So  when  Henry,  with  his  bucket 
of  water  in  hand,  opened  the  barn  door  and  threw 
the  water  with  admirable  precision  over  the  head 
and  shoulders  of  his  adversary,  he  made  of  him- 
self the  most  effective  possible  reinforcement  to 
Isaac.  Before  the  hornets  could  recover  from 
the  watery  assault  and  the  consequent  confusion, 
Isaac  had  made  good  his  retreat,  closing  the 
barn  door  behind  him. 

He  was  badly  stung  in  many  places,  but  at 
least  and  at  last  he  was  out  of  the  zone  of  fire  and 
was  free  to  reckon  up  damages. 

Henry,  who  was  not  at  all  a  bad-natured  fellow, 
laughed  a  little  under  his  breath,  and  then  rejoiced 
that  he  had  saved  his  adversary  from  a  punish- 
ment severer  than  even  he  deserved. 

After  Isaac  had  done  all  the  rubbing  and  mut- 
tering and  disguised  swearing  that  seemed  likely 
to  serve  emollient  purposes,  Henry  informed  him 
of  Warren  Rhett's  presence  at  the  Great  House, 


ISAAC'S  POINT  OP  VIEW          47 

and  of  his  desire  to  see  Isaac  as  promptly  as 
possible. 

If  it  had  been  Rhett's  purpose  to  criticize  the 
work  of  cultivation  as  conducted  under  Isaac's 
direction,  or  to  question  him  in  any  wise  concern- 
ing it,  he  changed  his  mind  before  Isaac  presented 
himself  at  the  porch.  Perhaps  he  had  decided 
to  deal  with  that  subject  in  a  larger  and  more 
vigorous  way  —  or  perhaps  he  had  merely  decided 
to  let  it  await  further  inquiry  on  the  morrow. 
However  that  may  be,  he  in  fact  made  no  mention 
of  the  matter  to  Isaac.  Instead  he  said: 

"  I  want  you  to  set  all  your  people  at  work  at 
once  on  that  fence,"  —  pointing  to  the  enclosure 
of  the  house  grounds.  "  Set  all  the  house  servants 
at  work  upon  it  and  everybody  else  you  can  get. 
I  want  every  rail  and  post  and  stick  of  it  removed 
to  the  wood- pile  and  stacked  up  there  —  not  in 
your  usual  slovenly  way,  but  neatly.  And  I  want 
every  stick  of  wood  there  is  in  the  wood- pile 
corded  up  in  the  same  way.  Then  I  want  all 
those  chips  that  litter  the  ground  out  there 
picked  up  and  piled.  You  can  set  the  chaps  at 
that." 


48    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  Chaps,"  in  Virginia,  signified  negro  children 
always. 

"  Well,  I  never ! "  exclaimed  the  head  man. 
"  Is  you  a  gwine  to  build  a  teetotally  new  fence, 
Mas'  Warren?" 

Here  again  was  a  case  of  reversion — of  atavism. 
Isaac  had  attended  an  educational  institute  for 
a  time.  He  had  there  been  drilled  out  of  the 
dialect,  and  ordinarily  he  did  not  use  it.  But  upon 
coming  into  contact  with  his  old  young  master, 
and  hearing  again  the  superior  tones  of  command, 
he  lapsed  at  once  into  the  speech  and  the  sub- 
missiveness  of  his  youth,  as  the  retired  cavalry- 
horse  obeys  the  bugle-calls. 

"  Never  mind  what  I  mean  to  do,"  answered 
the  master.  "  What  I  want  you  to  do  is  to  remove 
that  fence  to  the  wood-pile  where  it  belongs.  It 
is  composed  of  hickory  and  ash  —  all  good  fire 
wood,  well  seasoned.  But  I  want  it  piled  neatly, 
you  understand,  and  not  in  the  slovenly  way 
common  down  here.  However,  I'll  go  to  the  wood- 
pile and  superintend  that  myself.  You  call  every- 
body and  set  'em  all  at  work." 

By  this  time  Isaac  had  recovered  his  institute 


ISAAC'S  POINT  OF  VIEW         49 

breeding  and  the  speech  that  belonged  to  it.  He 
answered : 

"  Very  well,  Mr.  Rhett.  I'll  set  the  entire  force 
at  work  the  first  thing  to-morrow  morning.'* 

"  To-morrow  morning,  no !  "  answered  the 
young  man.  "  At  sunrise  to-morrow  morning  I 
shall  have  every  hand  on  the  plantation  at  work 
in  the  fields,  each  with  a  hoe  in  his  hand,  and 
I'll  be  there  to  see  that  every  one  of  them  uses 
his  hoe  in  a  way  to  earn  his  wages.  This  little 
job  must  be  done  this  afternoon.  So  hustle 
yourself." 

The  man  obeyed,  but  there  was  deep  resent- 
ment in  the  manner  of  his  obeying.  The  resent- 
ment was  many-sided.  It  was  first  of  all  temper- 
amental. In  the  very  fibre  of  his  being,  Isaac 
resented  the  requirement  that  he  should  do  now 
what  he  might  as  well  do  to-morrow.  In  the 
second  place,  the  resentment  was  habitual. 
Isaac  had  not  been  used,  for  years,  to  have  any 
one  compel  his  action,  and  he  resented  the  neces- 
sity of  submitting  to  such  compulsion.  Thirdly, 
his  resentment  was  racial.  During  all  the  years 
of  his  freedom  he  had  rejoiced  above  all  things 


50    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

in  the  thought  that  no  white  man  was  or  could  be 
his  master.  He  had  rolled  that  thought  like  a 
sweet  morsel  under  his  tongue,  never  learning  the 
first  lesson  of  freedom  —  submission  to  authority 
where  authority  is  rightly  constituted  and  right- 
fully used.  After  a  fashion  common  enough  in 
the  crude  thinking  of  uneducated  or  miseducated 
minds,  he  had  interpreted  liberty  to  mean  exemp- 
tion from  duty,  and  especially  from  the  duty  of 
obedience. 

Because  no  white  man  could  claim  mastery 
over  him  by  virtue  of  being  a  white  man,  Isaac 
had  fallen  into  the  habit  of  thinking  that  under 
any  and  all  circumstances  he  was  entitled  to 
resent  and  resist  the  assertion  of  authority  by 
any  white  man.  Such  education  as  he  had  re- 
ceived in  the  schools  strongly  tended  to  confirm 
him  in  this  mistaken  view  of  human  obligations. 
He  had  learned  to  regard  all  authority  as  slave 
driving,  all  obedience  to  authority  as  slavish  sub- 
mission. That  was  the  net  result  of  education 
in  Isaac's  case,  as  it  was  in  the  case  of  many  an- 
other, and  in  obedience  to  such  teachings  he  would 
have  refused  to  obey  the  order  given  him  if  he 


ISAAC'S  POINT  OF  VIEW         51 

had  dared.  But  he  did  not  dare.  He  knew  that 
in  some  way,  which  he  did  not  at  all  understand, 
Warren  Rhett  was,  or  could  at  will  make  himself, 
master  of  this  plantation,  and  even  the  education 
of  insolence  which  he  had  received  had  not 
robbed  him  of  the  capacity  to  understand  that  he 
must  obey  Warren  Rhett' s  orders  or  quit  the 
plantation.  As  he  did  not  want  to  quit  the  planta- 
tion, he  obeyed  the  orders,  —  sullenly  and  re- 
luctantly. 

Young  Rhett  did  not  concern  himself  with  the 
man's  mood.  He  was  accustomed  to  command 
men  in  large  numbers,  and  he  was  familiar  with 
all  the  moods  and  tenses  of  obedience  and  dis- 
obedience. He  cared  nothing  whatever  for  the 
mood  so  long  as  the  tense  of  obedience  was  the 
present. 

It  was  his  own  habit  of  mind  to  regard  the 
present  tense  as  the  only  one  in  which  the  work 
of  this  world  is  done,  or  can  be  effectively  done. 
So,  when  the  fence  had  been  removed  to  the  wood- 
pile, and  the  wood- pile  had  been  reconstructed 
upon  orderly  lines,  after  a  fashion  that  every 
negro  on  the  plantation  secretly  regarded  as 


52    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

absurdly  "  fussy,"  he  summoned  Isaac  to  the 
porch  and  questioned  him. 

"  How  many  field  hands  have  you  ?  "  he  asked. 

Isaac  couldn't  answer  on  the  instant.  He  had 
to  reckon  up  his  working  force  before  he  could 
report  its  strength. 

"  How  many  acres  of  corn  have  you  ?  "  inter- 
posed the  exigent  questioner,  before  his  first 
inquiry  had  'been  answered.  Then  followed 
other  questions,  as  if  fired  from  a  Catling  gun. 

"How  many  acres  of  wheat?  How  many 
tobacco  hills  ?  How  much  spinach  ?  How  many 
beans?  How  many  tomatoes?  "  and  so  on  to  the 
end  of  the  list. 

The  net  result  of  the  inquiry  was  to  show  that 
Isaac  had  planted  about  one-half,  or  a  little  less, 
of  the  crop  that  his  working  force  ought  to  culti- 
vate. Rhett  called  attention  to  the  fact,  and  then 
opened  another  line  of  inquiry. 

"  As  you  planted  less  than  half  a  crop,  why 
haven't  you  cultivated  that  half?"  he  asked. 
"  The  weeds  are  choking  the  corn  to  death.  The 
worms  are  eating  up  the  tobacco,  much  of  which 
hasn't  been  topped  or  primed  as  it  ought  to  be. 


ISAAC'S  POINT  OF  VIEW          53 

The  truck  patches  are  badly  neglected,  and  the 
wheat  ought  to  have  been  cradled  a  week  ago. 
It  is  overripe,  and  the  grain  is  being  wasted  on 
the  ground.  I  observed  a  field  of  oats  that  has  been 
lost  entirely.  It  was  ripe  two  weeks  ago,  and  it 
wasn't  cut.  It  isn't  worth  cutting  now.  What 
is  the  matter  with  you?  Why  haven't  you  tried 
to  do  your  duty  or  some  small  part  of  it  ?  " 

The  man  began  to  make  apologies.  Chiefly 
he  urged  the  fact  that  the  mules,  or  at  any  rate 
the  best  of  them,  had  been  seized  upon  executions 
for  debt.  That  seemed  to  him  a  sufficient  excuse 
for  his  neglect  of  the  crops.  It  did  not  impress 
Warren  Rhett  in  that  way. 

"  Mules  are  not  needed  in  cutting  oats  or 
cradling  wheat,"  he  responded.  "  And  as  for 
the  rest  of  the  crops,  you  have  hands  enough  to 
cultivate  them  all  with  the  hoe,  and  you're  going 
to  do  it  and  do  it  right,  beginning  to-morrow 
morning  at  sunrise.  First  of  all,  I  want  all  the 
men  who  know  how  to  handle  a  cradle  put  into 
the  wheat  to  save  what  is  left  of  it.  I  want  all 
the  hogs  that  are  left  on  the  plantation  turned 
into  the  oat-field  this  afternoon  to  get  what  good 


54    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

they  can  out  of  it.  Then  I  want  everybody  but 
the  cradlers  to  turn  out  to-morrow  morning  with 
hoes.  I'll  be  there  to  tell  them  what  to  do." 

All  this  was  to  Isaac  a  new  method  of  proce- 
dure —  a  new  and  utterly  unreasonable  mani- 
festation of  energy.  He  began  to  offer  objections, 
excuses,  pleas  in  abatement,  as  it  were,  of  such 
activity.  Rhett  did  not  listen. 

"  You  have  your  orders,"  he  said.  "  Obey 
them  to  the  letter  or  quit  the  plantation." 

Isaac  promptly  took  his  stand  upon  his  priv- 
ileges. 

"  But  you  can't  turn  me  off  the  plantation," 
he  said.  "  I've  got  a  cawntrac'  for  the  year." 

Rhett' s  first  impulse  was  to  reply  angrily.  His 
second  thought  seized  upon  the  humor  of  the 
situation  —  and  upon  its  pathos  also,  for  the 
thought  of  such  a  man  as  Isaac  venturing  to 
oppose  the  will  of  such  a  man  as  Warren  Rhett 
in  a  contest  of  wits  and  intelligence  was  really 
pathetic.  So  instead  of  answering  angrily  or 
peremptorily,  young  Rhett  took  up  the  matter 
persuasively. 

"  So  you've  a  contract,  have  you,  Isaac?  " 


ISAAC'S  POINT  OF  VIEW         55 

"  Yessir." 

"  Might  I  inquire  what  your  notion  of  a  con- 
tract is?" 

"  It's  a  agreement  for  a  year,"  answered  the 
man. 

"  Oh,  I  see.  It  binds  Mrs.  Rhett  to  keep  you 
as  her  head  man  for  a  year?  " 

"  Yes,  dat's  it  "  —  Isaac  had  relapsed  again 
into  the  dialect. 

"  And  doesn't  it  bind  you  to  anything?  " 

"  Why,  yes,  of  course  —  I'se  got  to  stay  out 
de  year." 

"  Is  that  all?  Doesn't  it  bind  you  to  do  your 
work  in  a  capable  way?  Doesn't  it  bind  you  to 
manage  the  crops  here  as  they  ought  to  be  man- 
aged?" 

"  I  dunno.    I  never  thought  o'  that." 

"  So  I  had  supposed.  Well,  now  do  you  under- 
stand that  a  contract  is  a  mutual  agreement  —  an 
agreement  between  two  persons  —  each  of  whom 
binds  himself  to  do  something  in  return  for  what 
the  other  promises  to  do?  You  know  perfectly 
well  that  you  haven't  done  your  duty  under  this 
contract.  Perhaps  you  don't  know  that  that 


56    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

annuls  the  contract  as  completely  as  if  the  paper 
were  torn  to  bits  and  burned  in  the  fire.  But  that 
is  the  fact.  Now  understand  me.  I've  come 
down  here  to  straighten  things  out,  and  before 
I  finish  they'll  be  as  straight  as  a  chalk-line.  I 
may  have  to  drive  everybody  off  the  plantation 
who  is  now  on  it.  I  hope  not.  But  if  I  meet  with 
opposition  of  any  sort,  that  is  what  will  happen. 
Now  Isaac,  Henry  will  bring  you  some  spirits, 
and  I  want  you  to  drink  to  the  new  order  of  things. 
To-morrow  morning  I  want  everybody  on  the 
plantation  to  set  to  work  in  the  way  I  have  ex- 
plained to  you.  I  don't  know  how  long  I  shall 
stay  here,  but  so  long  as  I  do  stay  I  am  going  to 
be  master  and  my  word  shall  be  law." 

Isaac  was  questioning  his  soul  as  to  all  this. 

"  Den  we  ain't  free,  after  all?  "   he  asked. 

"  Free  ?  Yes.  You  can  go  whenever  you 
please.  But  while  you  stay  you  must  obey  me. 
Sit  down  on  the  steps  again  and  let  me  repair 
some  of  the  defects  of  the  education  your  school- 
masters gave  you." 

The  negro  sat  down,  listening,  and  the  young 
white  man  took  up  his  parable. 


ISAAC'S  POINT  OF  VIEW         57 

"  You  negroes  have  been  taught  a  totally  false 
gospel  of  liberty.  You  have  been  taught  that 
when  a  man's  free  he  may  do  as  he  pleases, 
regardless  of  all  other  men.  Now  there  is  not  in 
all  the  world  a  man  who  is  free  in  any  such  sense 
as  that,  and  there  never  was  and  there  never  will 
be.  Do  you  understand  that,  Isaac  ?  " 

Isaac  did  not  respond.  He  had  secured  a  com- 
fortable corner  of  the  steps,  with  a  pillar  to  lean 
his  head  against,  and  he  was  sound  asleep. 

"  That  is  the  trouble  with  the  whole  race," 
muttered  the  young  man  of  affairs.  "  They  are 
sound  asleep,  and  yet  there  are  men  and  women 
—  especially  women  —  who  dream  of  equality 
between  that  race  and  our  own,  and  who  would 
have  us  spend  multi-millions  in  an  effort  to  lift 
those  chronically  sleepy  ones  to  the  level  of  a 
race  of  men  who  have  kept  themselves  awake 
through  countless  centuries." 

With  the  toe  of  his  boot  inserted  into  the 
intercostal  spaces  of  the  negro,  he  stirred  the 
man  to  consciousness.  Having  done  so,  he  said : 

"  I  freely  pardon  your  somnolent  inattention. 
But  bear  in  mind  that  at  sunrise  to-morrow  I 


58    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

expect  every  cradler  to  be  in  the  wheat,  and  every 
other  hand  to  be  in  the  fields  with  his  hoe.  I'll 
be  there  myself  and  I'll  take  no  excuses.  In  the 
meantime  you  are  to  go  and  turn  the  hogs  into 
the  oat-field.  I'll  go  out  at  sunset  to  see  that 
you  have  done  it." 

That  night  a  doleful  rumor  spread  over  the 
plantation.  The  burden  of  it  was:  "  We's  got 
to  wuk,  jes'  like  in  slarery  times." 


IV 

KATE 

IT  was  an  hour  or  so  before  the  appointed  time 
when  Charley  Danforth  dismounted  at  the 
door    of    Mannamac.      In   the  meanwhile 
Warren  Rhett's   trunks  had   come  and   he  had 
made   some  changes  in  his  costume.      The  high 
boots    had  given    place  to  low-cut  shoes,   with 
silver  buckles  on    their   insteps.     For   trousers 
he  wore  white  ducks,  and  his  coat  of  blue  flannel 
had  no  vest  beneath  it  to  obscure  the  whiteness 
of  his  starchless  negligee  shirt. 

Dinner  had  been  served  at  the  traditional  hour 
of  four  o'clock,  and  after  dinner  young  Rhett  had 
strolled  out  to  the  oat-field  to  see  how  many  hogs 
were  feeding  upon  the  waste  grain. 

Incidentally  he  encountered  Isaac,  the  head 
man. 

"  I  will  have  some  mules  here  before  night," 
he  said.    "  I  have  sent  a  chap  over  to  the  court- 
59 


60    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

house  with  a  note  to  a  drover  who  is  there.  I 
want  you  to  put  the  ploughs  into  this  field  and 
every  other  field  that  hasn't  a  growing  crop  on 
it." 

"  Good  Lawd !  "  responded  the  negro.  "  What 
you  gwine  to  do  wid  'em  this  time  o'  year?  It's 
too  late  to  plant  corn  or  tobacco,  an'  it  ain't  late 
enough  to  sow  wheat.  So  what  is  you  a  settin' 
us  a  ploughin'  for?  " 

"Turnips,  for  one  thing,"  Rhett  answered. 
"  Winter  lettuce  and  spinach  for  two  others. 
Winter  wheat  for  still  another.  That's  enough 
to  occupy  your  mind  for  a  week  or  so  to  come. 
Then  I'll  mention  other  things.  In  the  mean- 
while I  want  every  arable  acre  of  this  plantation, 
that  isn't  now  growing  a  crop,  to  be  ripped  up 
with  a  plough  and  got  ready  for  such  planting  as 
can  be  done  this  late  in  the  season." 

"  Good  Lawd  1 "  again  ejaculated  the  negro, 
tired  even  unto  death  by  the  very  suggestion  of 
such  activity. 

"  That's  all  right,"  answered  the  young  man, 
jauntily.  "  We'll  look  to  the  good  Lord  for  rams 
and  sunshine,  and  he  has  already  put  fertility 


KATE  6 i 

into  the  ground.  So  what  we've  got  to  do  is  to 
plough  and  harrow  and  plant  and  hoe,  and  we're 
going  to  do  our  part." 

Again  the  negro,  weary  to  the  centres  of  his 
soul,  ejaculated: 

"  Good  Lawd ! "  but  young  Rhett  paid  no 
heed.  He  had  given  his  orders.  He  meant  that 
they  should  be  obeyed.  Isaac  understood  that 
and  grieved. 

Rhett  had  sent  a  note  to  the  drover,  saying: 
"  Besides  the  mules,  I  want  a  horse  —  a  good 
one,  strong  enough  to  carry  my  hundred  and 
seventy  pounds  of  weight.  I  don't  care  whether 
he  is  broken  or  not.  I  can  attend  to  that  my- 
self. If  you  have  such  a  horse  bring  him 
over  to  be  looked  at.  But  it  won't  be  worth 
your  while  to  bring  over  any  spindle-legged, 
narrow-chested,  thin-hipped  animals.  I  know 
a  good  horse  when  I  see  him.  If  you've  a 
really  good  one,  bring  him  over  for  me  to  look 
at.  If  you  haven't  a  good  one,  don't  bother 
me." 

The  drover  understood.  He  knew  he  was 
dealing  with  an  expert,  whom  it  was  of  no  use  to 


62    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

try  to  deceive.  He  was  convinced  also  that  he  was 
dealing  with  a  man  who  would  not  hesitate  to 
pay  a  fair  price  for  a  really  good  animal.  So  he 
picked  out  of  his  drove  a  young  mare,  utterly 
unbroken  and  altogether  demoniacal  of  dis- 
position. 

"  I  reckon  she'll  amuse  him  for  a  few  days, 
anyhow,"  he  said.  "  Maybe  he  can  ride  her,  and 
then  again  maybe  he  can't,  but  anyhow  he  seems 
to  think  he's  ready  to  take  the  risk." 

The  drover  "  personally  conducted  "  the  mare 
to  Mannamac,  not  caring  to  entrust  her  way- 
wardness to  any  of  his  assistants,  who  took  mules 
over  for  inspection.  She  was  a  beautiful  creature, 
large  and  strong,  with  lean  neck  and  slender 
pasterns,  deep  chest,  high  withers,  and  the  sloping 
hips  that  in  a  mare  indicate  a  kicker. 

The  mules  and  the  mare  arrived  about  six 
o'clock.  Warren  looked  over  the  mules,  selected 
those  that  he  wanted,  and  after  a  little  bargaining 
bought  a  dozen  or  so  of  them. 

Then  he  examined  the  mare.  She  was  ex- 
cessively nervous  and  excited  at  the  time. 

"  Poor  girl !  "  the  young  man  said,  soothingly. 


KATE  63 

"  They've  been  tormenting  you  and  you're  un- 
strung. Never  mind.  We'll  give  you  a  good  quiet 
stall  to-night  and  let  you  get  rested.  Sometime 
to-morrow,  after  you've  got  over  their  rudeness, 
you  and  I  will  come  to  an  understanding." 

The  drover  had  already  named  his  price  for  the 
animal ;  Warren  Rhett  had  deducted  fifty  dollars 
from  it,  and  had  said  : 

"  Of  course  you'll  take  what  I  offer,  and  so 
I'll  take  the  mare." 

The  drover  was  delighted.  He  had  tried  to 
sell  the  beautiful  creature  to  each  of  a  dozen 
other  men,  each  of  whom  had  declined  to  take  her, 
after  trying  her  and  finding  himself  thrown  to  the 
ground  with  a  degree  of  violence  that  he  did  not 
care  to  have  repeated.  The  drover  had  expected 
Rhett  to  try  her  in  like  manner,  and  while  he  was 
glad  enough  to  make  a  sale,  he  had  enough  of 
honesty  in  him  to  suggest  a  trial  before  the  con- 
clusion of  the  bargain. 

"  It  is  not  necessary,"  young  Rhett  answered. 
"  The  mare  suits  me,  and  I  can  ride  her." 

"  Well,  kin  you  ?  "  asked  the  drover  —  his 
interest  in  horsemanship  overcoming  his  concern 


64    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

for  the  profits  of  a  sale.  "  A  good  many  other 
folks  has  thought  they  could,  and  has  changed 
their  minds." 

"  Yes,  I  know.  The  mare  has  been  tortured 
by  experiments  of  that  kind,  and  she  is  at  present 
in  a  state  of  intense  nervous  irritability.  I  don't 
blame  her.  It  is  the  misfortune  of  every  perfect 
horse  to  have  a  contest  with  a  lot  of  human  fools. 
If  my  price  is  right  I'll  take  the  mare,  and  if  you 
have  curiosity  enough,  you  may  ride  over  here  to- 
morrow and  see  her  carrying  me  about  the  planta- 
tion and  never  making  trouble  over  anything  that 
she  understands." 

"You  must  'a'  had  experience  with  bosses?" 
said  the  drover,  with  a  note  of  incredulity  in  his 
voice. 

"  A  little,  yes,"  answered  Rhett.  He  did  not 
care  to  add  that  in  addition  to  the  fact  of  his 
bringing  up  as  a  Virginia  boy,  he  had  found 
occasion  to  "  bust "  many  a  broncho  in  Mexico, 
New  Mexico,  Texas,  and  Arizona,  or  that  on  the 
pampas  of  South  America  he  had  lassoed  many 
a  wild  horse  and  subdued  him  to  his  will.  He 
said  only: 


KATE  65 

"  I  think  I  can  ride  the  mare  when  she  quiets 
down.  At  any  rate,  I'll  pay  the  price  I've  offered 
and  take  the  chances.  Is  it  a  bargain?  " 

The  transaction  ended.  Rhett  dismissed  all 
the  gaping  negroes  who  had  come  to  see  him 
killed,  and,  gently  caressing  the  mare,  led  her  to 
the  stall  he  had  selected  for  her.  There  he  gave 
her  a  pail  of  water,  for  which  she  thirsted.  Then 
with  his  own  hands  he  rubbed  her  down,  taking 
pains  during  the  process  to  handle  all  her  feet, 
and  especially  to  caress  her  head  and  to  deal 
gently  with  her  sensitive  ears,  rubbing  them  and 
her  head  until  she  recognized  the  massage  as  a 
kindly  attention  and  welcomed  it.  All  the  while 
he  talked  to  the  animal.  "  In  company/'  he  said, 
"  your  name  is  to  be  Dolly  Varden,  but  just 
between  you  and  me,  you're  simply  Dolly.  Don't 
you  think  that  sounds  more  affectionate  and 
chummy  ?  And  you  and  I  are  going  to  be  chums, 
you  know,  and  you  aren't  to  be  bothered  any 
more  by  those  rude  fellows  that  have  been  trying 
to  ride  you  against  your  will.  I  don't  blame  you 
for  objecting.  There,  old  girl,  are  you  comfortable 
now?  I'll  give  you  ten  ears  of  corn  and  a  rack 


66    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

full  of  fodder  and  another  pail  of  water  for  the 
night,  and  I'll  lock  the  stable  door  so  that  nobody 
shall  come  near  you  till  I  come  to  give  you  your 
breakfast  and  a  good  rubbing  down  in  the  morn- 
ing." 

With  that  he  quitted  the  stable,  giving  orders 
that  nobody  was  to  go  near  the  mare  —  to  whose 
care  he  would  himself  attend  —  and  returning 
to  the  house  just  in  time  to  receive  his  visitor. 

"  I'm  glad  you  sent  me  word  that  Kate  — 
Mrs.  Rhett  I  mean  —  was  to  be  gone  overnight," 
Charley  Danforth  said  after  the  first  greetings  of 
the  old  schoolmates  were  over.  "  You  see,  even 
as  it  is,  my  coming  to  Mannamac  is  a  bit  awk- 
ward, —  I  am  distinctly  persona  non  grata,  you 
know." 

"  Stuff  and  nonsense,"  responded  Warren 
Rhett.  "  Why,  if  Kate  were  to  drive  up  at  this 
moment,  she  would  welcome  you  as  cordially  as 
if  there  had  never  been  a  lawsuit  or  an  execution 
or  anything  else.  She  might  try  to  be  dignifiedly 
repellent  in  her  manner,  but  the  moment  she 
tried  to  remember  why  she  should  be  so,  she'd 
find  herself  puzzled  and  appeal  to  you  helplessly 


KATE  67 

for  information  and  guidance  in  the  matter. 
Then,  if  you  laughed,  as  you  probably  would,  she 
would  laugh  with  you  and  challenge  you  to  say 
why  you  hadn't  been  here  to  see  her  all  these 
many  moons.  I'm  astonished  at  you,  Charley. 
You  know  Kate,  or  you  ought  to." 

"Yes,  I  understand  all  that,  but— " 

At  that  moment  a  carriage  entered  the  grounds, 
rolled  around  "  the  circle,"  and  stopped  at  the 
stone  carriage  block. 

The  two  young  men  gallantly  hurried  forward 
and  opened  the  door  of  the  vehicle,  from  which 
descended  Mrs.  Kate  Rhett  and  a  young  woman 
whom  she  introduced  as  "  Miss  Hazel  Cameron." 

Kate's  first  attention  was  given  to  Warren 
Rhett,  of  course. 

"  I'm  so  glad  youVe  come ! "  she  began, 
"  because  now  I  sha'n't  be  bothered  any  more, 
and  besides  it  has  been  so  long  since  I  saw  you, 
and  of  course  there  isn't  anybody  else  so  nice. 
Oh,  Warren,  I'm  so  glad !  You  see,  even  the 
servants  knew  how  anxious  I  was  to  have  you 
here,  so  as  soon  as  you  came  three  of  the  chaps 
came  over  to  Bandonnais  to  tell  me.  I  was  to 


68    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

stay  overnight  there,  but  as  soon  as  I  heard  you 
were  at  Mannamac  I  ordered  the  carriage,  and 
of  course  Hazel  came  back  with  me.  I  want  you 
to  know  her,  though  I  think  you  mustn't  fall  in 
love  with  her,  just  as  you  mustn'ted  with  me 
ages  ago.  I  wonder  if  that's  right  — '  mustn'ted  ?  ' 
It  don't  sound  right,  but  it's  what  I  mean." 

Warren  laughingly  interrupted,  — 

"  I  believe  the  grammarians  contend  that  the 
verb  '  must/  in  all  its  moods  and  tenses,  has  no 
inflection,  but  that  is  no  reason  why  you,  Kate, 
shouldn't  give  it  one  if  you  want  to.  You're  a 
privileged  person,  you  know." 

This  seemingly  playful  interruption  was  gal- 
lantly meant  to  rescue  Hazel  Cameron  from  an 
embarrassment.  When  Kate  said  what  she  did 
concerning  the  possibility  of  Warren's  falling  in 
love  with  her,  and  the  prohibition,  the  young 
woman  exclaimed,  protestingly,  "  Oh,  Kate!" 
and  immediately  hid  her  face  behind  her  handker- 
chief. But  the  action  was  not  quick  enough  to 
rob  Warren  Rhett  of  a  glimpse  of  her  cheeks, 
which  revealed  a  degree  of  color  not  sufficiently 
accounted  for  by  the  glow  of  a  sunset  sky.  that 


KATE  69 

suffused  the  porch  in  which  the  quartet  stood. 
So  Warren  Rhett  came  to  the  young  woman's 
rescue  with  his  exposition  of  grammatical  re- 
quirements. To  make  the  rescue  complete,  he 
added : 

"  Thanks  for  your  cordial  welcome  of  me, 
Kate,  but  you  haven't  half  welcomed  Danforth. 
You  see  when  I  found  you  gone  away  I  sent  for 
him,  just  to  console  me  for  your  absence,  and  —  " 

"  Oh,  I  didn't  mean  to  neglect  you,  Charley !  " 
she  exclaimed,  cordially  grasping  the  young  man's 
hand  again.  "  Still,  I've  a  quarrel  with  you,  you 
know." 

"  Not  a  serious  one,  I  hope,"  he  answered. 

"  Oh,  yes,  it  is.  Indeed  it's  very  serious.  You 
haven't  been  to  see  me  since  I  don't  know  when, 
and  I  feel  myself  very  greatly  aggrieved.  Still, 
now  that  you're  here,  I'll  forgive  you,  and  we 
won't  talk  about  that  any  more.  Come,  Hazel, 
these  two  men  are  very  entertaining,  but  we 
mustn't  let  their  ceaseless  chatter  keep  us  standing 
here.  Diana  has  taken  our  wraps  up-stairs,  so 
we  must  go.  Warren,  I  leave  you  to  entertain 
Charley." 


70     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  I've  offered  already,"  Warren  replied,  "  but 
he  tells  me  he  never  takes  any." 

Kate  stopped  for  a  moment  on  the  stairs,  her 
brow  puckered  in  puzzlement.  Then  she  under- 
stood, and  for  reply  she  seemed  to  toss  to  Dan- 
forth  the  words: 

"  Good  boy !   I  like  that." 


HAZEL 

SUPPER  was  served  at  the  usual  time — a 
little  before  nine  o'clock.  It  was  the  same 
supper  that  had  been  served  in  that  house 
every  night  from  "  the  time  whereof  the  memory 
of  man  runneth  not  to  the  contrary."  There 
was  the  cold  ham  of  the  razorback  variety,  for.  a 
relish  and  a  stimulant  to  appetite.  There  were 
plates  piled  high  with  what  the  Virginians  call 
"wafer  biscuit" — dainty  sheets  of  pastry,  as 
thin  as  paper  itself,  baked  to  a  crisp  in  a  hot 
oven.  There  was  a  pan  of  that  most  perfect  of 
all  combinations  of  corn-meal,  eggs,  and  cream, 
known  as  batter  bread.  There  were  berries  and 
other  fruits,  with  tea  and  coffee,  and  butter  fresh 
from  the  churn.  There  were  other  things  — 
there  were  always  other  things  upon  the  hos- 
pitable Virginia  table  —  but  in  substance  the 
supper  consisted  of  these. 


72     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

The  two  young  men  had  hoped  for  half  an  hour 
in  the  porch  in  company  with  the  two  young 
women  before  the  supper-hour,  but  in  that  they 
were  disappointed.  They  passed  the  time  before 
supper,  therefore,  partly  in  talking  over  the 
situation  of  Kate's  affairs,  but  still  more  in  ar- 
ranging to  talk  it  over  more  thoroughly  after  the 
women  should  have  gone  to  bed. 

"  I'm  here  to  straighten  everything  out,"  young 
Rhett  explained,  "  and  first  of  all  I  must  know 
the  condition  of  things  as  completely  as  may  be. 
Of  course  Kate  doesn't  know  anything  about  it  — " 

"  Of  course  not,"  Danforth  interrupted,  "  but 
I  think  I  can  give  you  all  the  information  you 
want.  Indeed,  I  should  have  volunteered  my 
services  to  Kate  long  ago  if  it  had  been  possible. 
But — you  don't  know  how  peculiarly  embar- 
rassing my  position  has  been.  Did  she  ever  tell 
you?" 

"  No.  You  see,  I  haven't  seen  her  since  her 
marriage  to  my  father  —  or  since  long  before 
that,  in  fact.  But  perhaps  I  can  guess." 

"  No,  don't.  It  would  be  unfair  to  her.  You 
see  she's  peculiar." 


HAZEL  73 

"  Yes,  I  know.  She's  unique  in  fact.  But  tell 
me  about  it,  —  that  is  to  say  if  you  care  to  do 
so." 

"  Well,  it  was  this  way.  She  and  I  were  en- 
gaged, or  at  least  half-engaged,  when  —  well,  when 
your  father  decided  to  marry  her.  Of  course  he 
didn't  know  that.  He  was  the  soul  of  honor. 
And  Kate  didn't  tell  him.  That  wouldn't  have 
been  her  way." 

"  No,"  answered  Warren,  a  smile  playing  over 
his  face.  "  No,  of  course  not.  As  you  say,  Kate 
is  peculiar.  But  go  on,  I  didn't  mean  to  inter- 
rupt." 

"  Well,  one  day  Kate  sent  me  a  letter  telling 
me  the  engagement  must  be  called  off.  She  ex- 
plained, in  her  queer  way,  that  your  father  had 
decided  to  marry  her,  and  that  while  she  was 
'  awfully  sorry,'  I  would  understand  that  she 
couldn't  help  it,  and  she  did  hope  I  wouldn't  go 
and  feel  bad  about  it.  You  can  imagine  the  rest 
of  the  letter.  It  filled  twenty-two  pages,  I  remem- 
ber. Well,  of  course,  knowing  Kate  as  I  did, 
I  couldn't  blame  her  as  I  should  have  blamed 
any  other  woman  in  the  world  under  like  circum- 


74    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

stances.  You  know  one  simply  must  forgive 
anything  and  everything  to  Kate,  and  go  on  liking 
her  just  as  well  as  ever.  To  resent  anything  she 
does  would  be  like  cuffing  a  baby's  ears  for  smiling 
at  the  color  of  your  hair  or  your  cravat.  Besides, 
I  don't  suppose  it  ever  occurred  to  her,  even  as  a 
remote  possibility,  that  she  might  refuse  your 
father's  offer  of  marriage  on  the  ground  that  she 
was  already  engaged.  Her  submission  to  his 
authority  was  so  absolute  that  I  think  it  would 
have  been  the  same  if  she  had  been  already 
married.  She  would  have  called  her  marriage 
off,  just  as  she  called  off  the  engagement." 

At  this  point  the  conversation  was  interrupted 
by  the  descent  of  the  gentlewomen  from  the  upper 
regions  and  Henry's  announcement  that  supper 
was  ready. 

Warren  Rhett  had  his  first  good  look  at  Hazel 
Cameron  as  she  entered  the  supper- room.  He 
had  thought  her  beautiful  when  he  had  seen  her 
in  the  gloaming.  Now  that  the  lights  fell  full 
upon  her,  she  seemed  to  him  a  veritable  dream. 

She  had  changed  her  gown,  of  course,  and  she 
appeared  now  in  a  costume  that  was  Greek  in  its 


HAZEL  75 

suggestions  and  in  its  simplicity.  It  was  made 
of  gray  crepe  de  chine.  In  a  sense  it  was  like 
creation  itself  —  without  form  and  void.  That 
is  to  say,  it  had  no  pronounced  lines,  and  no 
latitudinal  lines  at  all.  There  were  no  flounces  and 
no  ruffles,  and  no  waist-line  of  any  kind  appeared. 
The  garment  seemed  to  Warren  Rhett's  mascu- 
line apprehension  simply  to  be  swathed  in  grace- 
ful spiral  curves  about  the  rather  tall  but  not 
too  tall  form  of  the  shapely  young  woman, 
nowhere  asserting  itself,  nowhere  suggesting  con- 
struction, but  flowing  as  the  water  flows,  and 
seeming  to  be  a  creation  of  nature  rather  than 
of  art,  or  still  less  of  artisanship. 

Warren  Rhett  was  pleased  with  the  costume, 
and  he  quickly  observed  that  the  young  woman 
wore  no  ornaments  of  any  kind  —  not  even  so 
much  as  a  rose  or  a  ribbon.  But  his  glance  at 
her  costume  was  instantly  lost  in  his  glance  at 
her  countenance.  She  was  fair,  and  her  creamy 
white  skin  had  a  glint  of  pink  in  it  that  could 
quickly  ripen  into  red  under  momentary  emotion. 
Her  features  were  fairly  regular,  but  in  confronting 
her  one  forgot  to  observe  their  regularity  because 


7  6    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

of  the  ceaseless  play  of  expression  that  from 
moment  to  moment  changed  their  aspect.  As 
Warren  Rhett  looked  at  her,  he  thought  her  the 
most  beautiful  woman  he  had  ever  seen.  But  the 
picture  she  presented  seemed  to  him  to  lack  some- 
thing —  something  exceedingly  small  and  inconse- 
quent, and  yet  something  necessary  to  its  per- 
fection. He  instantly  decided  what  it  was,  and 
as  he  seated  her  at  table  he  asked  her  to  excuse 
him  for  one  moment.  Going  to  the  porch,  he 
returned  instantly  with  a  spray  of  honeysuckle 
—  cream- white  —  and  a  rose  intensely  red. 

"  I  want  my  homecoming  to  be  celebrated," 
he  said,  "  with  all  of  beauty  that  is  possible." 

With  that  he  went  first  to  Kate  and  fastened 
the  red  rose  in  the  masses  of  her  raven  black  hair. 
Then,  with  a  courteous  "  permit  me,"  he  advanced 
to  Hazel  and  entwined  the  spray  of  honeysuckle 
in  the  copper-colored  waves  above  her  forehead. 
Both  the  women  observed  the  peculiar  dexterity 
with  which  he  entangled  the  flowers  in  the  hair. 
Kate  said  nothing.  Hazel  said: 

"  Evidently  you've  done  that  before,  Mr. 
Rhett.  Your  touch  tells  of  practice." 


HAZEL  77 

"  Never  with  results  so  satisfactory,"  he  said, 
gallantly,  "  though  I  once  had  the  pleasure,  in 
Vera  Cruz,  of  helping  to  make  a  beautiful  maiden's 
hair  radiant  with  fireflies,  and  in  the  half-lights 
of  the  open-air  ballroom  the  effect  was  impressive. 
But  permit  me  to  say  the  present  effect  —  " 

"  We'll  permit  you  nothing,"  interrupted  Kate, 
who  saw  the  signal  reds  in  Hazel's  cheeks. 
"  Speaking  of  hair,  that's  why  we  were  delayed  in 
coming  down  to  supper." 

"  Oh,  you  got  into  trouble  with  your  tresses, 
did  you?" 

"  No.  But  you  know  my  carriage- horses  are 
white,  and  they  are  shedding  terribly.  So  Hazel 
and  I  were  covered  with  white  horsehairs  when 
we  got  here.  You  see,  it  was  so  warm,  I  had  the 
carriage  top  down.  Why,  when  I  looked  in  the 
glass,  I  actually  thought  I  had  turned  gray  over 
your  coming,  Warren." 

"  May  I  ask,  Kate,"  said  Warren,  "  which  one 
of  your  servitors  is  supposed  to  look  after  your 
carriage- horses  ?  " 

"  Why,  Everard,  of  course." 

Young   Rhett   turned   to  Hazel  and  insisted 


78    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

upon  placing  a  dainty,  paper-thin  slice  of  ham 
on  her  plate.  Then  he  quietly  secured  audience 
of  Henry,  and  said  to  him: 

"  Send  one  of  the  chaps  to  find  Everard,  and 
tell  him  to  come  to  me  here  when  we  have  finished 
supper." 

When  the  table  had  been  cleared,  and  the  two 
gentlemen  —  with  permission  —  had  lighted  their 
long- stemmed  pipes,  Everard  presented  himself. 
Rhett  looked  at  him  earnestly  for  a  moment. 
Then  he  said: 

11  The  ladies  found  themselves  covered  with 
horsehairs  when  they  got  home  this  evening." 

He  added  no  question  to  the  statement,  but 
Everard  understood.  He  answered: 

".Well,  you  see,  Mister  —  Mas'  Warren,  I 
mean  —  de  bosses  is  a  sheddinV 

"Why?" 

"  W'y,  you  know,  Mas'  Warren,  as  well  as  I 
do,  dat  bosses  always  sheds  once  a  year." 

"When?" 

The  meagre  sententiousness  of  Rhett's  ques- 
tioning was  a  sore  affliction  to  Everard,  for  the 
reason  that  it  compelled  him  to  think,  and 


HAZEL  79 

with  him  thinking  involved  a  deal  of  painful 
effort. 

"  Well,  mostly  it  happens  in  de  spring/'  he 
answered. 

"  And  this  is  past  midsummer,"  answered  the 
white  man.  "  Horses  do  not  shed  in  midsummer 
on  any  plantation  over  which  I  exercise  control. 
If  I  hear  of  a  horsehair  falling  upon  the  clothing 
of  Mrs.  Rhett  or  her  guests  again  —  "  He  paused, 
not  completing  the  sentence.  He  knew  that 
Everard  would  mentally  complete  it  for  him,  and 
he  was  satisfied. 

"  Henry,"  he  said,  "  give  Everard  a  dram  before 
he  goes." 

When  the  man  had  gone,  Hazel  Cameron,  who 
was  not  a  Virginian,  turned  to  Rhett  and  asked : 

"  But,  Mr.  Rhett,  how  can  the  poor  fellow  help 
it  if  the  horses  are  shedding  out  of  season  ?  " 

Rhett  laughed.  "  He  knows  how  to  help  it," 
he  said.  "  He  knows  that  it  is  a  matter  of  proper 
or  improper  grooming.  I  noticed  the  horses  when 
the  carriage  drove  up  this  evening.  They  haven't 
been  washed  down  for  weeks,  and  they  haven't 
been  properly  curried  for  months.  One  trouble 


8o    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

is  that  the  bucket  of  the  stable  well  has  fallen 
to  pieces,  and  Everard  has  been  too  indolent 
either  to  repair  it  or  to  carry  water  from  the  house 
well.  There  has  been  dry  weather  recently,  and 
the  rain-water  barrels  up  there  have  run  out.  So, 
in  the  absence  of  conscience  or  energy  on  Everard's 
part,  the  horses  have  not  been  washed  down  as 
they  should  have  been.  As  to  currying,  Everard 
has  neglected  that,  simply  because  he  didn't  want 
to  do  any  more  work  than  he  must.  Like  every- 
body else  on  this  plantation,  he  has  fallen  into 
bad  habits.  Why,  even  Henry  here  hasn't  yet 
cleaned  the  muddy  boots  I  took  off  a  good  many 
hours  ago." 

Henry  fairly  shrank  into  himself  with  mortifi- 
cation. But  Henry  still  had  some  remains  of  a 
conscience,  and  Rhett  knew  that  with  him,  at 
least,  repentance  was  likely  to.  bring  forth  "  fruits 
meet."  Henry  was  washing  the  supper  dishes, 
while  his  mistress,  Kate,  was  scalding  and  drying 
them,  after  the  immemorial  custom  of  Virginia 
housewives.  He  was  far  too  well-bred  to  make 
any  reply  to  his  master's  remark,  but  he  looked 
at  Warren  in  a  way  which  that  young  gentleman 


HAZEL  81 

rightly  interpreted  to  mean :  "I  beg  yo'  pardon, 
Mas'  Warren,  an'  you  may  be  sartin'  sure  it 
won't  happen  never  again  no  more !  " 

Warren  nodded  in  answer  to  the  look,  and 
presently  the  negro,  having  finished  with  the 
dishes,  hurried  —  yes,  actually  hurried  —  to  find 
those  boots  and  put  them  in  order.  He  was  sin- 
cerely resolved  that  his  young  "  Mas'  Warren  " 
should  have  no  further  occasion  to  complain  of 
neglect  on  his  part. 


VI 

A  LOVE  -  SONG  IN  THE  PORCH 

THE  housewifely  duties  done,  Kate  sug- 
gested a  migration  of  the  company  to  the 
drawing-room. 

"  There's  a  moon  nearly  full,"  answered  Rhett, 
"  and  the  thermometer  stands  at  seventy-two. 
Why  not  sit  out  in  the  porch  ?  You  know,  Miss 
Cameron,  there  are  no  mosquitoes  at  Mannamac." 

The  suggestion  met  with  general  approval, 
and  the  party  moved  out  into  the  great  front 
porch. 

"  May  I  ask  you  a  wholly  impertinent  question, 
Mr.  Rhett?"  queried  Hazel,  as  he  led  her  off 
the  porch  to  show  her  a  well-remembered  moon- 
light effect  of  leaf  shadows  upon  the  paved 
walk. 

"  Ask  any  question  you  please,"  he  answered. 

"  I  shall  not  consider  it  impertinent." 
82 


A  LOVE-SONG  IN  THE  PORCH     83 

"  Then  how  came  you  to  know  that  the  ther- 
mometer stood  at  seventy-two?" 

He  laughed. 

"  Oh,  that's  simple  enough.  You  see,  I'm  an 
engineer  and  a  contractor  for  construction  work, 
and  it  is  often  necessary  that  I  shall  know  the 
temperature.  Methods  and  materials  often  de- 
pend upon  that.  So  I  always  carry  in  my  pocket 
a  little  thermometer,  enclosed  in  a  safety  case 
that  I  had  made  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  it 
and  keeping  it  always  handy.  When  you  and 
Kate  arrived  I  began  to  plan  for  an  altogether 
pleasant  evening.  The  weather  was  clear,  and 
I  knew  we  should  have  a  fine  moon,  so  I  wanted  to 
know  whether  or  not  we  might  sit  outside  and 
enjoy  the  weather  conditions.  To  that  end  I 
removed  the  little  thermometer  from  its  case  and 
set  it  on  the  railing  of  the  porch.  When  I  went  out 
to  get  the  flowers  you  and  Kate  are  wearing,  I 
struck  a  match  and  looked  at  the  instrument. 
There,  that  is  a  complete  resolution  of  the 
mystery  of  Warren  Rhett's  extraordinary  sagacity 
and  prescience  and  all  the  rest  of  it.  It's  as  simple 
as  the  explanation  of  a  ghost-story  usually  is." 


84    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  Now  you  are  laughing  at  me,"  she  answered, 
"but—  " 

"  No,  I'm  not  laughing  at  you.  I  feel  no  dis- 
position to  do  that.  It  was  very  natural  that  you 
should  wonder  how  I  knew  the  state  of  the  ther- 
mometer, when  seemingly  I  had  had  no  oppor- 
tunity to  observe  it.  But  as  I  offered  the  per- 
fectly simple  explanation,  it  occurred  to  me  that 
most  of  the  mysteries  that  make  men's  and 
women's  eyes  saucer-like  with  wonder  are  equally 
easy  of  explanation  if  one  only  knows  the 
facts." 

"  Then  you  don't  believe  in  the  existence  of 
mysteries?" 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  do.  Nothing  in  all  the  world  is 
so  borne  in  upon  me  as  mystery.  There's  the 
attraction  of  gravitation,  for  example.  I  have  to 
wrestle  with  it  and  reckon  with  it  every  hour  of 
every  day.  Practically,  I  can  deal  with  it.  That 
is  to  say,  I  can  recognize  it  and  accommodate 
myself  to  its  inexorable  demands  —  but  to  say 
that  I  understand  it  —  no.  I  know  not  what  it 
is,  or  whence  it  conies,  or  why  it  acts  in  the  way 
it  does.  I  can  convert  it  into  heat  by  arresting  its 


A  LOVE-SONG  IN  THE  PORCH      85 

manifestation.  I  can  tame  it  to  my  uses  and 
make  it  turn  wheels  for  me.  I  can  in  that  way 
convert  it  into  light,  electricity,  or  sound,  —  I  can 
make  it  rock  a  cradle  or  crush  a  casemate, — 
gently  crack  a  nut  or  mash  a  mass  of  cold  iron 
into  such  shape  as  I  desire,  making  it  white-hot 
in  the  process.  But  I  no  more  knew  what  that 
limitless  force  is,  or  whence  it  comes,  or  whither 
it  goes,  than  does  any  new-born  babe.  And  there 
is  another  of  the  multitudinous  mysteries  that 
surround  us.  How  does  the  new-born  babe,  by 
the  assimilation  of  food,  particle  by  particle, 
r.cOm  by  atom,  molecule  by  molecule,  build  up  its 
body  and  brain  into  a  prize-fighter  or  a  poet  or 
a  student  or  a  statesman?  If  I  plant  two  seeds 
in  the  earth,  each  inconsequent  in  size  and  struc- 
ture, how  is  it  that  the  one  will  with  certainty 
produce  a  deliciously  edible  fruit,  and  the  other 
a  noxious  one  of  totally  different  character  and 
appearance?  The  soil  from  which  the  two  are 
nourished  is  the  same,  the  air  in  which  the  two 
grow  is  the  same  —  all  the  conditions  are  abso- 
lutely identical.  Yet  the  one  seed  with  certainty 
converts  the  materials  accessible  to  it  into  one 


86    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

thing,  and  the  other,  with  equal  certainty,  con- 
verts the  same  materials  into  another.  Again, 
see  here."  He  took  a  penknife  out  of  his  pocket. 
"  The  force  that  holds  the  particles  of  one  of 
those  steel  blades  together  is  sufficient  to  destroy 
a  city  or  a  fleet  of  battle-ships  instantly,  if  it  could 
be  released  suddenly.  Whence  comes  that  ter- 
rific force?  What  holds  it  to  its  duty  of  main- 
taining the  integrity  of  the  steel,  instead  of  per- 
mitting its  particles  to  resolve  themselves  into  an 
expansive  gas,  and  blow  everything  around  into 
atoms  ?  I  have  frequent  occasion  to  employ  high 
explosives.  They  are  simply  substances  in  wh.  "h 
the  bond  of  union  between  the  particles  is  so  weak 
that  a  trifling  heat  or  a  slight  jar  destroys  that 
bond  instantaneously.  Why  is  it  that  in  some 
substances  the  bond  of  union  is  so  weak,  while 
in  others  it  is  so  incalculably  strong  ?  I  do  not 
know.  Neither  does  anybody  else.  These,  and 
things  like  these,  are  the  mysteries  of  nature. 
We  pretend  to  explain  them  by  classifying  and 
naming  the  phenomena,  but  our  explanations  do 
not  explain.  If  I  were  to  talk  all  night  and  all 
day,  and  all  the  nights  and  all  the  days  of  my  life, 


A  LOVE-SONG  IN  THE  PORCH      87 

I  could  not  begin  to  catalogue  the  mysteries  that 
my  mind  must  encounter  every  day.  These  things 
constitute  the  riddle  of  the  universe,  and  the 
universe  is  a  sphinx  whose  mysteries  no  mortal 
may  even  pretend  to  understand.  Be  careful! 
There's  a  break  in  the  step  there.  I  have  given 
orders  to  have  it  repaired." 

Before  the  girl  could  thank  him  for  the  caution, 
Kate  called  to  her,  saying: 

"  Come,  Hazel,  Mr.  Danforth  wants  to  hear 
you  sing,  and  I'll  give  you  a  guitar  accompani- 
ment, so  that  we  needn't  quit  the  porch  for  the 
drawing-room." 

Then  Kate,  the  incorrigible  chatterer,  rattled 
on,  after  her  wont. 

"  Anyhow,  it  isn't  fair  for  you  and  Warren  to 
stand  talking  out  there  in  the  moonlight,  leaving 
poor  Charley  to  me  —  who  don't  know  how  to 
talk  at  all,  except  just  in  a  commonplace  way. 
What  have  you  two  been  talking  about,  anyhow  ? 
It's  too  soon  for  Warren  to  have  fallen  in  love  with 
you,  Hazel,  even  in  such  moonlight  as  this,  so 
you  must  have  been  talking  philosophy  or  some- 
thing else  that  Charley  and  I  don't  understand. 


88    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

Come  and  be  sociable  and  sing.  You  know, 
Warren,  Hazel  is  a  genius  who  can  do  every- 
thing —  " 

"  Will  you  be  quiet,  Kate  ?  "  exclaimed  the 
girl,  with  nervous  dread  of  more  to  come. 

"  That  means  I'm  to  shut  up,  I  suppose. 
Very  well,  I  will  —but  it's  all  true,  Warren.  I'll 
tell  you  about  it  some  other  time.  What  will  you 
sing,  Hazel  ?  " 

"  Anything  that  is  honest  and  sincere,"  an- 
swered the  girl.  "  Let  it  be  '  Home,  Sweet  Home  ' 
first,  just  by  way  of  a  welcome  to  Mr.  Rhett." 

One  song  followed  another,  there  in  the  moon- 
light, Hazel  singing  in  a  voice  that  Warren  —  who 
was  not  an  unskilled  critic  —  thought  one  of  the 
sweetest  and  most  sympathetic  he  had  ever 
heard. 

After  awhile  the  singing  seemed  to  come  to 
an  end  of  its  own  accord,  and  the  little  company, 
still  under  its  spell,  sat  well-nigh  silent  for  a 
time  —  speaking  only  a  word  now  and  then. 
After  a  little  while,  Hazel,  as  if  moved  by  a  sudden 
impulse,  took  the  guitar  from  Kate's  lap  and, 
accompanying  herself,  sang  this: 


A  LOVE-SONG  IN  THE  PORCH   89 

••  Love  is  the  life  of  the  life  that  we  live  — 

Yes,  Love  is  the  sum  of  it  all ; 
It   is   not   what   we   get,   and    it's    not    what    we 

give  — 

Not  what  we  bestow,  nor  what  we  receive, 
That  makes  up  the  sum  of  it  all ; 
It's  loving  —  loving  —  loving ! 

•  It's  not  what  we  think  of,  nor  what  we  forget, 

That  makes  up  the  sum  of  it  all ;  — 
Not  what  we  rejoice  in,  —  not  what  we  regret  — 
Not  the  things  that  delight  us,  nor  those  that  beset,  — 
That  make  up  the  sum  of  it  all ;  — 
It's  loving  —  loving  —  loving ! 

"  The  mother  who  croons  o'er  her  baby  asleep, 

Knows  Love  as  the  sum  of  it  all ; 
Over  other  things  she  may  rejoice  or  may  weep, 
But  into  her  soul  doubt  never  can  creep 

That  Love  is  the  sum  of  it  all  — 

That  it's  loving  —  loving  —  loving. 

w  And  so  the  world  over  the  truth  is  the  same  — 

That  Love  is  the  sum  of  it  all ; 
It's  so  with  the  maiden  and  so  with  the  dame, 
With    the   youth    and    the    sage  —  whatever     the 

name  — 

That  Love  is  the  sum  of  it  a1!  — 
That  it's  loving  —  loving  —  loving ! " 


9o    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

This  was  the  rather  unusual  melody  to  which 
she  sang  the  song. 


Moderate. 


A  LOVE-SONG  IN  THE  PORCH     91 


£& 


— .*- 


^ H— £ 


— * b* 

Love  is     the  life     of    the       life  that    we   live, —      Yes, 

I  I 


m 


Love    is     the  sum    of       it       all; 

**=*=£=£= 


It's 


not  what  we     get,  and  it's       not  what  we    give, —    Not 

I 


$rt 


«/ 


m 


ores,     . 


S£ 


=fef 


^U2 


^'^&=* 


tK 


92    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 


what  we     be  -  stow,  nor  yet  what  we    re  -  ceive, — That 


makes up  the     sum  of     it    all :         It's 


A  LOVE-SONG  IN  THE  PORCH  93 

As  she  sang,  Rhett  rose  from  his  chair  and 
listened  with  an  eagerness  of  attention  far  greater 
than  that  which  listeners  usually  give  to  any  song. 
When  she  had  finished,  he  asked: 

"Where  did  you  get  that?" 

"  I  got  the  words  out  of  an  old  magazine,  where 
they  were  published  over  your  name,  Mr.  Rhett. 
I  did  not  know  then  who  you  were,  and  I  cer- 
tainly did  not  imagine  that  I  should  ever  meet 
you.  But  the  song  seemed  to  me  to  express  a 
truth,  and  the  rhythm  pleased  me.  I  wanted  to 
sing  it,  so  I  wrote  the  little  melody  myself.  Tell 
me  about  the  words,  please.  May  I  know  what 
prompted  you  to  write  them?  " 

"  It  is  very  strange,"  he  said ;  "  very  strange 
that  the  thing  should  come  back  to  me  in  this 
way."  He  paused  before  offering  the  explana- 
tion —  paused  as  if  recalling.  At  last  he  said : 

"  I  have  never  been  in  the  habit  of  writing 
verse.  But  this  thought  came  to  me  under 
peculiar  circumstances,  and  it  seemed  to  demand 
expression  in  words.  The  words  took  metrical 
form  almost  in  spite  of  me — certainly  not  of 
my  will." 


94    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  But  why  did  the  thought  come  to  you  ? 
Thoughts  are  always  the  result  of  suggestion,  are 
they  not  ?  " 

"I  do  not  know.  I  never  questioned  as  to 
that,"  he  answered ;  "  but  in  this  case,  as  I  see 
clearly  now,  the  thought  was  obviously  born  of 
suggestion  and  circumstance.  But  it  is  not  always 
a  single  suggestion  or  a  single  circumstance  that 
gives  birth  to  thought.  Perhaps  it  is  not  always 
an  objective  fact  at  all  that  serves  as  a  suggestion. 
In  this  case  I  think  there  were  both  objective 
and  subjective  influences  at  work.  Let  me  tell 
you  the  story,  and  leave  you  to  judge  for  your- 
self. 

"  As  I  recall  the  circumstances,  I  was  at  the  time 
engaged  in  construction  work  up  in  the  Peruvian 
Cordilleras.  I  was  utterly  without  human  com- 
panionship of  any  kind  —  as  completely  alone  as  if 
I  had  been  the  only  human  being  there.  Around 
me  there  dwelt  no  one  with  whom  I  could  ex- 
change even  the  most  commonplace  thought  —  no 
one  to  whom  I  could  say  even  that  it  was  a  fine 
morning,  with  any  hope  of  a  response.  The  men 
working  under  my  command  —  there  were  two 


A  LOVE-SONG  IN  THE  PORCH   95 

thousand  of  them  —  were  Chinese  coolies,  Mex- 
ican peons,  convicts  condemned  to  the  service  as 
a  punishment  for  crime  —  the  dregs  and  lees  of 
humanity,  the  offscourings,  the  refuse,  of  civiliza- 
tion and  semicivilization. 

"  In  brief,  I  had  absolutely  no  possibility  of 
human  comradeship  about  me,  and  if  I  looked 
afar,  with  the  eyes  of  the  spirit,  the  landscape 
there  seemed  equally  barren.  I  had  neither  father 
nor  mother,  neither  wife  nor  sweetheart,  neither 
brother  nor  sister.  In  all  the  world,  whose  vast- 
ness  and  remoteness  was  borne  in  upon  me  by  the 
mountain  solitudes,  there  was  nowhere  any 
human  being  to  whom  I  was  of  anything  more 
than  passing  consequence.  If  I  should  die  there 
in  the  Cordilleras,  they  would  bury  my  body, 
precisely  as  they  would  bury  that  of  a  defunct 
mule  —  to  get  it  out  of  the  way.  After  a  month 
or  two  —  perhaps  after  six  months  —  one  of 
those  remotely  residing  persons  whom  I  had  been 
accustomed  to  call  my  friends  would  accidentally 
hear  of  my  death,  and  say,  *  Poor  fellow !  Yes,  I 
remember  him  well.' 

"  You  will  say  that  all  this  was  morbid,  and 


96    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

perhaps  it  was.  But  I  doubt  that  any  man  of 
character,  any  man  possessed  of  an  imagination, 
could  have  escaped  morbidity  under  the  circum- 
stances. However  that  may  be,  I  didn't  escape 
it.  I  was  making  money  lavishly  —  almost 
absurdly  it  seemed  to  me.  The  men  who  had  sent 
me  there  to  do  their  work  had  known  something 
of  the  human  sacrifice  that  its  doing  involved, 
and  they  had  multiplied  the  temptation  of  dollars, 
until  the  monthly  arrival  of  my  salary  by  caravan 
made  me  laugh  at  the  absurdity  of  it  all. 

"  The  dollars  came  to  me  in  bags,  carried  by 
pack- mules.  I  foresaw  that  I  must  hire  a  cara- 
van to  carry  the  accumulated  and  accumulating 
pile  back  to  the  coast  when  the  work  should  be 
done.  But  what  could  I  do  with  it  up  there 
in  the  mountains?  I  could  buy  a  few  eggs, 
some  grapes,  some  sweet  potatoes,  and  some 
onions  of  a  native  woman  who  lived  near,  and 
that  was  all. 

"  Day  after  day  the  question  more  and  more 
insistently  pressed  itself  upon  my  mind,  whether 
the  game  was  worth  the  candle  —  whether  the 
lavish  sums  I  was  receiving  for  my  skill  and  my 


A  LOVE-SONG  IN  THE  PORCH     97 

work,  or  whether  ten  times  or  a  hundred  times 
those  sums,  could  compensate  a  man  of  intelli- 
gence for  the  utter  isolation  the  work  involved  — 
the  utter  loss  of  all  human  sympathy  and  kindli- 
ness —  the  loss  of  love  in  all  its  forms.  While  I 
was  in  this  questioning  mood  of  mind  I  went  one 
morning  to  the  hut  of  the  native  woman  from 
whom  I  was  accustomed  to  buy  eggs  and  grapes 
and  onions  and  the  like.  As  I  approached  her 
hut  she  was  crooning  her  baby  to  sleep,  and  al- 
though I  was  her  best  —  almost  her  only  cus- 
tomer who  had  money  with  which  to  pay  —  she 
lifted  her  free  hand  and  beckoned  me  to  go  away 
—  all  in  behalf  of  the  sleeping  child.  There  was 
mother  love,  dominating  need  and  greed  alike, 
and  its  manifestation  set  me  thinking.  I  wrote 
the  verses  you  have  just  sung.  I  sent  them  by 
the  monthly  mail  to  a  friend  in  New  York.  I 
never  heard  from  them  again,  or  thought  of  them 
again.  You  will  readily  understand  the  surprise 
and  the  interest  I  felt  when  I  heard  you  sing 
them." 

At  this  point  Kate  interposed  with  the  ejacula- 
tion :     "  Poor   fellow,   I    suppose    you    couldn't 


98    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

even  get  your  laundry  work  done  decently  in 
that  out-of-the-way  place !  " 

It  was  fortunate  that  she  did  so,  for  it  is  doubtful 
that  Hazel,  who  had  been  greatly  moved  by  the 
story,  could  have  made  any  answer  at  all  on  the 
instant.  The  interruption  gave  her  a  chance  to 
recover,  and  presently  she  said: 

"It  is  very,  very  interesting,  but,  Kate, 
you  are  yawning  surreptitiously.  Don't  you 
think  we'd  better  bid  the  gentlemen  good 
night?" 

Kate  assenting,  the  two  women  withdrew  from 
the  porch  and  were  courteously  escorted  to  the 
foot  of  the  stairs.  There  the  good  nights  were 
said,  but  as  the  feminine  pair  mounted  the 
stairs  Rhett  called  out : 

"  I  suppose  breakfast  is  served  at  nine  o'clock, 
as  of  old,  Kate?" 

"  Yes,  of  course." 

"  Well,  if  I  shouldn't  be  present  on  time,  won't 
you  please  excuse  me,  and  go  on  without  me?  I 
bought  the  most  beautiful  young  mare  to-day 
that  anybody  ever  saw,  and  I'm  going  to  break 
her  in  the  morning.  When  I  get  her  under  con- 


A  LOVE-SONG  IN  THE  PORCH    99 

trol  I  shall  give  her  a  ten  or  fifteen  mile  ride,  just 
to  impress  it  upon  her  mind  that  I'm  her  master. 
So  I  may  not  get  back  in  time  for  breakfast, 
though  I'll  try." 


VII 

A  PACT  AND  A  PRINCIPLE 

THE  two  young  men  sat  up  most  of  the 
night  studying  Kate's  affairs  and  the  con- 
dition into  which  she  had  got  them  by 
her  incapacity  to  understand  business.  The  de- 
tails need  not  be  set  forth  here.  The  conclu- 
sion was  a  compact  between  the  two  men  to 
"  straighten  them  out  somehow." 

It  was  fortunate,  as  both  of  them  recognized, 
that  Kate's  interest  in  the  plantation  was  only 
for  life,  and  that  therefore  no  claim  against  her 
could  become  a  lien  upon  anything  except  per- 
sonal property. 

"  But  let  me  tell  you,  Charley,"  said  Warren 
Rhett,  after  the  situation  had  been  pretty  well 
worked  out,  "  that  I  don't  intend  to  have  Kate 
bothered  in  this  way.  She's  my  father's  widow, 
and  she  is  only  carrying  on  things  as  he  taught 
her  to  carry  them  on.  The  only  trouble  is  that 

100 


A  PACT  AND  A  PRINCIPLE  '•' 


101 


she  doesn't  know  how  to  :nake  the  plantation 
yield  a  revenue  equal  to  her  expenditures.  Nei- 
ther did  my  father,  but  I  think  I  do.  At  any  rate, 
I'm  going  to  study  the  subject  and  try.  I'm  con- 
demned by  my  doctors  to  at  least  a  year's  idleness, 
and  I  don't  know  where  I  could  idle  so  pleasantly 
as  here  at  Mannamac.  So  I'm  going  to  see  what 
can  be  done  to  make  a  Virginia  plantation  pay 
as  great  a  revenue  under  the  new  conditions  as 
it  did  under  the  old.  I  think  it  can  be  done.  If 
not,  then  at  any  rate  my  own  business  is  well 
organized  and  it  will  go  on  paying  largely.  Any- 
how, I  have  enough  to  the  good  to  take  care  of 
Kate  and  her  affairs.  She  simply  shall  not  be 
compelled,  either  to  change  her  way  of  living, 
or  to  submit  to  humiliation  because  of  it." 

"  I  applaud  your  sentiment,"  answered  the 
other,  "  and  I  so  far  sympathize  with  it  that  you 
may  count  upon  me  for  any  help  I  can  render 
you  in  carrying  out  your  programme." 

"  Well,  now,  may  I  ?  "  eagerly  questioned 
Rhett.  "  You  see  I  don't  know  any  other  lawyer 
in  the  county,  and,  as  I  understand,  you  are 
already  engaged  on  the  other  side  in  cases  against 


102    LOVE  IS-  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 


at*f«'  '  *!'  skjir't  know  your  confounded  professional 
ethics  or  etiquette  or  whatever  you  call  it,  and  I 
don't  care  a  continental  about  it.  What  I  want 
is  your  help  in  taking  care  of  Kate  —  " 

"  That  you  shall  have  with  a  right  good-  will," 
answered  Danforth. 

"  All  right  then,"  responded  Rhett.  "  So  far 
as  I  can  see,  the  claims  against  her  amount  only 
to  two  or  three  thousand  dollars  —  " 

"  Less  than  half  that,  if  you  deduct  those  that 
have  already  been  satisfied  by  levies  and  other- 
wise," interposed  Danforth. 

"  So  much  the  better.  Now  I  am  prepared, 
personally,  not  only  to  assume  responsibility  for 
every  claim  against  her,  but  instantly  to  discharge 
every  just  claim  by  my  draft  on  New  York,  the 
moment  you  say  it  is  just  and  correct.  If  there 
are  any  unjust  claims  —  and  there  often  are  in 
such  cases  —  we'll  fight  them  to  a  finish  in  the 
courts,  even  if  it  costs  me  ten  times  their  amount. 
You  see  when  there's  only  a  woman  to  deal 
with  —  " 

"  I  know,"  interrupted  Danforth  ;  "  and  you 
are  quite  right.  Every  rascal  in  the  community 


A  PACT  AND  A  PRINCIPLE      103 

has  sought  an  opportunity  to  take  advantage  of 
the  situation  in  this  case,  and  they  have  hired 
shysters  to  help  them.  It  was  for  that  reason 
alone  that  I  ever  took  cases  against  her  —  just 
to  prevent  the  shysters  from  persecuting  her. 
By  the  way,  that  reminds  me  of  something.  You 
know  Kate  is  fond  of  riding  horseback,  and  she 
had  two  favorite  nags,  Patty,  a  palfrey  of  excellent 
quality,  and  Ingomar,  a  superb  horse  fit  for 
severe  work.  Well,  I  simply  had  to  take  both 
of  them  last  week,  under  an  execution,  in  order 
to  prevent  that  reprobate  Jack  Wood,  who  also  had 
a  judgment,  from  doing  so.  I  took  the  animals 
and  had  them  sold  by  the  sheriff.  I  didn't  want 
Kate  to  lose  them,  and  as  I  had  heard  that  you 
were  probably  coming  down  here,  I  bought  them 
in,  myself,  thinking  that  if  you  came  we  could 
so  arrange  that  she  should  have  the  horses  back 
again  as  your  property,  without  danger  of  any- 
body levying  upon  them.  Now  that  you're 
here,  I'll  give  you  a  bill  of  sale  for  them, 
and  I'll  send  them  back  to  Kate's  stables 
to-morrow." 

"  That  is  very  generous,  and  therefore  it  is 


io4    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

in  character,  Charley.  But  can  you  really  afford 
to  do  it?  -I  ask  frankly." 

"  And  I  answer  frankly,  yes.  You  know  I  am 
unmarried ;  I  have  nobody  dependent  upon  me ; 
I  have  a  fairly  lucrative  practice,  and  I  owe  no 
man  anything  but  good-will,  except  perhaps  a 
few  dollars  to  Levy,  the  storekeeper,  for  a  box 
or  two  of  cigars." 

"  Then  you  smoke  cigars?  " 

"  No,  of  course  not.  I'm  a  Virginian.  I  smoke 
a  pipe.  I  give  the  cigars  to  my  friends  —  and 
especially  to  my  enemies." 

"  Very  well.  Send  the  horses  back.  But  bear 
in  mind,  you  and  I  personally  divide  the  loss.  I 
insist  upon  that.  For  the  rest,  I  want  you,  if  you 
are  free  to  do  so,  to  become  my  counsel  while  I 
am  settling  Kate's  affairs.  To  your  own  clients 
who  have  claims  against  her,  you  can  say  that  I 
assume  all  her  just  obligations  and  stand  ready 
to  pay  them.  To  all  others,  say  what  your  learn- 
ing in  the  law  suggests,  and  I'll  stand  by  it." 

"  There'll  be  some  fights,  I  think." 

"  Well,  we'll  make  the  fights.  I  say  to  you  now 
that  I  won't  have  Kate  robbed  or  wronged,  and 


A  PACT  AND  A  PRINCIPLE      105 

the  rascals  may  as  well  understand  the  matter 
in  that  way  at  the  outset.  I'll  pay  every  claim 
that  you  decide  to  be  just,  but  I  want  you  to  fight 
every  unjust  claim  to  the  utmost  limit  of  the  law, 
even  if  it  costs  ten  times  the  amount  involved." 

"  You're  a  born  fighter,  aren't  you,  Warren  ?  — 
predestined  to  that,  as  the  Presbyterians  say." 

"  I  don't  know.  I  have  a  conviction  that  right 
is  right  and  wrong  wrong,  and  —  well,  I  suppose 
it  is  instinctive  in  a  gentleman  to  fight  wrong, 
precisely  as  we  fight  fire  or  smallpox,  because 
wrong  is  a  public  enemy,  just  as  fire  and  pesti- 
lence are." 

He  paused  a  moment  reflecting.    Then  he  said  : 

"  Of  course,  when  the  fight  comes,  I  have  a 
certain  joy  in  it.  How  can  a  fellow  help  that? 
I  like  to  trample  upon  wrong,  and  crush  it  under 
my  feet." 

"  Yes,  I  understand.  You  weren't  born  to  be 
a  lawyer.  You  were  born  to  be  a  great,  big, 
strong  man  instead,  —  a  man  who  would  scorn 
to  defend  wrong  or  to  enforce  it  against  right,  in 
consideration  of  a  fee.  I  tell  you  frankly,  Warren, 
that  I  detest  my  own  profession  —  I  loath  it  —  I 


io6    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

abhor  it.  It  requires  of  those  who  would  success- 
fully practise  it  a  complete  surrender  of  man- 
hood, an  absolute  abnegation  of  conscience,  a 
slavish  subservience  to  the  client  for  pay.  The 
lawyer  who  hopes  for  success  must  stand  ready 
to  take  a  retainer  on  either  side  of  any  case, 
wholly  regardless  of  the  merits  of  the  case.  What 
would  you  think  of  a  newspaper  that  accepted 
retainers  in  that  way,  standing  ready,  for  pay, 
to  advocate  either  side  of  any  question?  And 
having  accepted  a  retainer  for  the  wrong,  the 
lawyer  must  maintain  the  pretence  of  believing 
that  the  wrong  is  the  right ;  he  must  stultify  him- 
self by  insisting  upon  misinterpretations  of  the 
law.  He  must  employ  all  the  ingenuity  of  mind 
that  he  possesses,  to  secure  the  triumph  of  the 
wrong  over  the  right.  He  must  sacrifice  his  very 
soul  for  his  client.  He  must  make  himself  parti- 
ceps  criminis  in  fact,  if  not  in  legal  definition, 
every  day  of  his  life.  He  must  dicker  and  deal. 
He  must  quibble  and  quirk.  He  is  a  man  with  a 
'  to  let '  sign  on  his  conscience,  a  man  whose 
brains  are  for  hire  to  the  highest  bidder— an 
intellectual  hireling  and  a  moral  prostitute." 


A  PACT  AND  A  PRINCIPLE      107 

"  That  is  an  awful  indictment  of  your  own 
profession,  Charley." 

"  Awful?  Yes.  And  the  awfullest  thing  about 
it  is  that  it  is  all  true.  The  clients  who  stand 
ready  to  pay  best  and  to  give  the  largest  employ- 
ment to  a  lawyer  are  precisely  those  who  want 
wrong  done,  rascality  defended,  and  criminality 
saved  from  its  legitimate  punishment." 

Warren  Rhett  paced  the  floor  backwards  and 
forwards  half  a  dozen  times  before  he  answered. 
Then  he  approached  his  friend  and,  taking  his 
hand,  said: 

"  I  sympathize  with  you,  old  fellow.  What  do 
you  intend  to  do  ?  " 

"  Thank  you  for  the  sympathy.  I  am  going 
to  obey  the  dictates  of  a  conscience  that  is  still 
reasonably  clean.  I  have  decided  that  hereafter 
I  will  take  no  case  that  I  do  not  believe  to  be  just 
and  right,  and  that  after  I  have  taken  a  case  I 
will  resolutely  refuse  to  do  anything  in  my  client's 
behalf  which  I  do  not  believe  to  be  just  and  right. 
If  my  clients  want  something  else  done,  they 
must  employ  another  lawyer.  For  the  rest  there 
is  a  good  deal  of  entirely  honest  work  for  a  lawyer 


io8    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

to  do,  in  verifying  land  titles,  in  framing  contracts, 
in  administering  estates,  in  the  prosecution  of 
honest  claims  and  in  defence  against  dishonest 
ones,  —  these  things  I  may  do  as  an  honorable 
man  and  maintain  my  self-respect.  If  I  can  make 
a  living  in  such  a  practice  of  law,  I  shall  be  con- 
tent. If  not,  then  I  shall  do  something  else. 
I'll  keep  myself  clean,  anyhow.  Perhaps  I  shall 
ask  you  for  a  place  as  timekeeper,  or  whatever 
else  you  call  the  man  who  makes  record  of  the 
hours  at  which  your  workmen  begin  and  quit 
work." 

"  All  right,  1*11  give  you  a  place  whenever  you 
want  it,  which  will  be  two  days  after  never.  Why, 
don't  you  understand,  you  sublimated  idiot,  that 
if  you  conduct  your  law  practice  on  the  lines  you 
have  indicated,  it  is  bound  to  become  the  greatest 
and  most  successful  law  practice  in  this  part  of 
the  State?  Don't  you  see  that  when  once  it 
becomes  known  that  you  won't  take  a  case  till 
you  are  convinced  of  its  righteousness,  and  that 
you  won't  do  or  ask  anything  in  behalf  of  a  client 
till  you  are  satisfied  that  it  is  right  and  just  — 
don't  you  see  that  when  you  shall  have  built  up 


A  PACT  AND  A  PRINCIPLE     109 

that  kind  of  reputation,  every  man  who  has  a  case 
in  court  will  eagerly  strive  to  secure  your  services  ? 
Don't  you  see  that  the  very  fact  of  your  appear- 
ance in  behalf  of  a  client  will  carry  weight  with 
judge  and  jury  alike?  And  if  it  doesn't,  what 
matter?  What  is  commonly  called  l  success  '  is 
often  the  worst  of  all  possible  failures.  You  may 
not  make  money  as  rapidly  as  the  rascals  do,  — 
though  I'm  not  so  sure  of  that,  —  but,  at  any  rate, 
you'll  enjoy  the  respect  of  Charles  Danforth  and 
of  Charles  Danforth' s  fellow  citizens  —  and  that 
is  a  good  deal  better  than  money.  Some  day 
perhaps  they  will  make  you  a  judge  of  our  highest 
court  —  if  they  don't  it  will  be  a  mistake  on  the 
people's  part.  But  whether  that  comes  to  you 
or  not  as  a  reward,  you  will  know,  and  everybody 
else  will  know,  that  Charles  Danforth  is  an  honest 
man  and  a  lawyer  with  a  conscience. 

"  I  tell  you,  old  fellow,  there  are  sounder  ways 
of  looking  at  these  things  than  those  that  are 
common  among  men.  I  was  speaking  to-night 
of  a  time  in  my  life  when  I  was  receiving  the  very 
highest  pay  I  ever  received,  and  when  I  felt  that 
I  was  getting  less  out  of  life  than  every  man  has 


no  LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

a  right  to  expect  and  to  exact.  My  '  pay '  came 
to  me  in  bags  of  silver  dollars.  I  had  to  send 
them  back  to  the  coast  again  by  the  selfsame 
pack-mules  that  had  toilsomely  *  toted  '  them  up 
through  the  mountain  passes.  At  the  coast  town 
they  were  converted  into  paper  —  drafts  on 
New  York  —  and  in  New  York  they  were  con- 
verted into  figures  on  the  pages  of  a  bank's  ledgers. 
Meanwhile,  I  couldn't  spend  a  dollar  of  it  all 
for  anything  that  I  wanted  in  the  world.  I  wanted 
companionship.  Not  the  wealth  of  Croesus  could 
have  purchased  it  for  me  up  there  in  the  desolate 
mountains.  I  would  gladly  have  given  a  thousand 
of  the  silver  dollars  that  uselessly  lay  there  in  my 
tent,  awaiting  transportation,  to  hear  a  plantation 
darkey  strum  upon  the  banjo  or  sing  absurd 
ditties  in  a  huskily  false  voice.  I  would  gladly 
have  given  other  thousands  of  those  dollars  just 
to  hear  the  sound  of  human  laughter  —  for  the 
peons  and  the  coolies  never  laugh.  They  have 
never  had  occasion  to  learn  that  art  —  and  I  could 
not  hear  laughter  at  any  price.  I  would  gladly 
have  paid  out  thousands  of  those  useless  dollars 
for  the  privilege  of  passing  a  scant  half-hour  in 


A  PACT  AND  A  PRINCIPLE      in 

the  company  of  a  dozen  barroom  loafers,  simply 
in  order  that  I  might  hear  human  beings  talk 
again  of  the  things  that  interested  them,  however 
unworthy  those  things  might  be  in  themselves. 

"  When  I  thus  fully  realized  how  worthless 
money  is  when  it  will  not  buy  those  things  that 
its  possessor  wants,  I  began  to  understand  that 
money  is  merely  a  tool,  just  as  a  wheelbarrow  or 
a  crowbar  or  a  chisel  is  —  an  implement  with 
which  to  work  when  you  have  the  materials  to 
work  upon.  Except  as  a  tool  it  is  the  most  value- 
less thing  in  all  this  world,  and  the  saddest  men 
on  earth  ought  to  be  those  who  have  spent  their 
lives  in  accumulating  it.  I  can  imagine  nothing 
else  so  tragical  as  the  death  of  a  man  who  has 
devoted  his  life  to  mere  accumulation. 

"  However  that  may  be,  I  think  you  have 
chosen  not  only  the  wiser,  but  the  manlier  part. 
There  is  plenty  of  good,  honest  work  for  a  lawyer, 
embarrassed  by  a  conscience,  to  do,  and  the  doing 
of  it  will  bring  him  a  success  superior  to  that 
which  awaits  his  fellow  of  more  elastic  views  of 
human  obligations.  Anyhow,  life  means  some- 
thing more  than  lucre,  and  to  win  the  affection  of 


ii2    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

your  fellow  men  and  women  is  of  far  greater 
consequence  than  to  win  the  pecuniary  rewards 
of  their  confidence  in  your  skill  and  acumen.  For 
it  is  true  that '  Love  is  the  sum  of  it  all.'  Good 
night,  old  fellow.  Sleep  well,  and  jealously 
cherish  your  high  ideals  of  manhood ! " 


VIII 

THE  EVENTS  OF  A  MORNING 

WHEN  Warren  Rhett  got  out  of  bed  at 
daybreak  next  morning,  he  found  his 
cold  bath  awaiting  him.  Henry  had 
not  forgotten  the  existence  of  what  he  could  not 
help  regarding  as  a  species  of  insanity  on  his 
young  master's  part  —  the  desire,  namely,  to 
get  into  a  tub  of  cold  water  upon  waking  in 
the  morning.  Henry  was  a  servant  of  generous 
mind,  disposed  to  tolerate,  if  he  could  not 
approve,  the  idiosyncrasies  of  the  man  he 
served.  There  was  nothing  of  the  propagandist 
or  missionary  spirit  in  Henry,  and  so  he  made 
no  attempt  to  convert  his  master  to  his  own  view, 
that  baths  are  evils  to  be  avoided  on  general 
principles,  and  that  cold  baths,  especially  in  the 
early  morning,  are  "  somethin'  that  no  sensible 
person  would  ever  submit  to  on  no  account  what- 
"3 


ii4    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

somever."  He  pardoned  his  master's  imbecility, 
and  provided  the  hat-shaped  bath-tub  with 
the  cold  water  that  his  "  Mas'  Warren  "  desired. 

It  was  not  yet  sunrise  when  young  Rhett  tip- 
toed down  the  stairs  in  an  effort  to  avoid  waking 
the  sleepers,  and  passed  out  into  the  glorious 
morning. 

In  the  grounds  he  stumbled  as  it  were  upon 
Hazel  Cameron,  who  had  set  up  an  easel  there,  but 
was  apparently  doing  nothing.  He  greeted  her 
cordially  and  expressed  his  delighted  surprise 
that  painting  was  one  of  her  accomplishments. 

"  Oh,  it  isn't  an  accomplishment,"  she  an- 
swered. "  It's  my  trade,  you  know.  I  make  my 
living  by  it." 

Then,  as  if  to  forestall  comments  and  compli- 
ments, she  hastily  added : 

"  But  I  must  give  this  picture  up.  A  week  ago, 
I  began  to  paint  a  picture  which  I  intended  to 
call '  The  Broken  Fence.'  I  came  out  this  morning 
to  work  upon  it,  but  somebody  has  removed  the 
fence,  so  that  I  cannot  go  on." 

"  I  fear  I'm  the  guilty  person,"  he  said.  "  I 
didn't  imagine  there  ever  could  be  any  use  for 


THE  EVENTS  OF  A  MORNING     115 

that  fence.  But  if  I  may  I  will  have  it  restored 
this  morning  —  breaks  and  all." 

"  Certainly  not,"  she  answered.  "  I  can  under- 
stand that  from  the  point  of  view  of  an  engineer, 
whose  habit  it  is  to  have  things  shipshape,  that 
fence  was  an  eyesore.  Besides,  you  couldn't 
restore  it  as  it  was.  The  restoration  would  look 
'  fixed  up  '  —  artificial,  unreal." 

"  Then  I  have  robbed  you  of  a  picture." 

"  Yes,  in  a  way.  But  it  wouldn't  have  been 
much  of  a  picture  at  best,  and  you  can  easily 
replace  the  loss,  if  you  will." 

"  I  will,  if  you'll  tell  me  how." 

"  Let  me  go  with  you  to  the  stables  and  see  you 
conquer  the  beautiful  mare  you  mentioned  last 
night.  You  see,  horses  are  what  I  mostly  paint, 
and  I  specially  like  to  paint  them/ in  vigorous 
action.  I  should  like  to  see  the  contest  between 
you  and  the  mare." 

He  paused  a  moment  in  reflection.  Then  he 
said: 

"  You  may,  if  you  don't  mind  going  up  into 
the  stable  loft  and  sitting  at  the  opening  of  the 
haymow  while  you  look.  I  should  be  afraid  to 


u6    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

have  you  anywhere  below,  as  I  suppose  the  mare 
is  really  demoniacal.  They  tell  me  so,  and  she 
looks  the  part." 

"  I'll  be  very  good,"  she  said. 

"  Very  well,  come  on." 

"  I  doubt  if  you  find  as  much  trouble  with  the 
mare  as  you  expect,"  she  said,  as  they  walked 
toward  the  stables  —  a  quarter  of  a  mile 
away. 

"Why?" 

"  Well,  for  one  thing  I  think  you  know,  better 
than  the  people  that  have  handled  her,  how  to 
deal  with  her.  I  have  always  observed  that  a  man 
of  sense  —  but  that  isn't  what  I  was  really  thinking 
of.  You  have  a  peculiarly  commanding  manner. 
I  observed  it  when  you  were  disciplining  that 
negro  man  last  night.  You  didn't  scold,  and  you 
didn't  threaten,  and  you  didn't  bluster.  You 
quietly  told  him  what  you  required  of  him,  but 
somehow  you  did  it  in  a  way  that  made  it  impos- 
sible for  him  to  do  otherwise  than  as  you  said. 
I  think  some  men  are  born  with  the  gift  of  com- 
mand, and  such  men  secure  obedience  almost 
without  effort.  I  have  noticed,  too,  that  such  men 


THE  EVENTS  OF  A  MORNING     117 

are  obeyed  by  animals  just  as  they  are  obeyed 
by  men  —  simply  as  a  matter  of  course." 

The  two  walked  on  side  by  side,  he  making 
no  reply.  As  they  reached  the  stables  he  faced 
her  and  said : 

"  I  hope  you  will  not  misunderstand  me.  I 
suppose  my  manner  is  sometimes  arrogantly 
dictatorial.  It  is  a  manner  that  in  part  I  inherited 
from  my  father,  I  suppose,  but  in  far  greater  part 
it  has  been  acquired.  You  see,  in  the  conduct  of 
my  business  I  must  not  only  be  master  —  I  must 
be  masterful.  I  am  set  to  command  men  in  large 
numbers,  and  they  are  mostly  inferior  men.  They 
have  been  used  to  obey  the  sharp  word  of  com- 
mand, so  that  obedience  to  the  sharp  word  has 
become  habitual  with  them,  while  their  disposi- 
tion to  revolt  and  to  refuse  obedience  is  so  strong 
that  they  would  yield  to  it  eagerly  if  they  could, 
even  to  the  extent  of  slaying  the  man  who  con- 
trols them,  if  they  dared.  In  the  remote  moun- 
tain regions  of  South  America  I  have  had  as 
many  as  two  thousand  Chinese  coolies  under  my 
command.  Not  a  man  among  them  had  any 
interest  in  life  except  to  shirk  work  and  eat  and 


ii8    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

drink  in  idleness.  There  wasn't  so  much  as  a 
rudimentary  conscience  in  all  that  company. 
There  wasn't  a  creature  in  the  crowd  who  would 
have  hesitated,  upon  any  moral  ground,  to  kill 
me  and  take  possession  of  the  food  supplies  that 
I  had  in  charge.  The  only  reason  they  didn't 
do  that  was  that  they  feared  me.  Why,  I  know 
not.  There  were  two  thousand  of  them  to  one  of 
me,  and  of  course  in  any  physical  contest  with 
them  I  should  have  been  immeasurably  helpless. 
As  for  moral  suasion  in  the  ordinary  sense,  it  was 
wholly  out  of  the  question.  There  was  no  moral 
sense  in  any  of  their  minds  to  appeal  to,  no  per- 
ception of  right  and  wrong,  no  glimmering  notion 
of  a  difference  between  the  two.  But  these  men 
were  used  to  obey  the  word  of  command  spoken 
by  their  master.  If  he  had  spoken  haltingly,  or 
with  hesitation,  or  with  any  suggestion  of  doubt 
as  to  their  obedience,  they  would  have  buried 
him  that  day,  or  more  probably  they  would  have 
thrown  his  corpse  to  the  condors,  while  they  took 
possession  of  the  food  stores.  I  hope  you 
do  not  think  it  unpardonable  that  under  such 
circumstances  I  acquired  a  peremptoriness  of 


THE  EVENTS  OF  A  MORNING     119 

speech  and  manner  which  seems  to  you  offen- 
sive." 

"  Oh,  but  it  isn't  offensive.  It  is  lovely.  You 
are  the  kind  of  man  who  has  a  right  —  I  mean  — 
well,  I  mean  you  don't  assume  —  you  don't 
command  except  when  you  have  a  right  to  com- 
mand." 

What  the  girl  really  meant  was  that  Warren 
Rhett  was  entitled  to  command,  simply  by  virtue 
of  what  she  deemed  his  personal  superiority,  and 
she  narrowly  missed  saying  something  of  the  sort. 
By  way  of  escape  she  said : 

"  I  think  the  mare  will  recognize  your  authority 
as  soon  as  she  understands  that  you  intend  her 
no  harm." 

Her  prediction  was  fulfilled.  There  was  a  bad 
quarter  of  an  hour  of  controversy  between  Rhett 
and  the  powerful  animal,  but  at  the  end  of  that 
time  the  mare  had  learned  two  things  —  that 
this  man  was  her  master,  and  that  he  was  alto- 
gether a  friendly  master,  who  meant  no  harm  to 
her. 

When  her  subjection  was  complete,  Rhett  bade 
the  young  woman  adieu  and  rode  away  to  inspect 


120    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

the  beginning  of  the  plantation  work  he  had 
ordered  the  day  before. 

Once  yielded,  the  mare's  submission  was  so 
complete  that  Rhett  did  not  think  it  necessary 
to  give  her  the  discipline  of  a  long  ride,  as  he  had 
intended.  He  deemed  it  enough  to  ride  her  to 
the  several  points  on  the  plantation  where  he  had 
ordered  work  begun,  and  so  he  returned  to  the 
house  in  time  for  the  nine  o'clock  breakfast,  for 
which  he  had  an  appreciative  appetite. 

"  I  suppose  you  have  enjoyed  your  ride,  War- 
ren," said  Kate,  as  she  poured  his  coffee. 

"  Intensely  — but  selfishly.  To-morrow  morn- 
ing I  hope  I  shall  have  you  and  Miss  Cameron 
for  company." 

"  But  we  haven't  any  horses,  Warren.  You 
know  they've  taken  them  all  away." 

"  That  was  only  for  a  time,"  he  answered, 
"  and  only  to  save  them  from  the  clutches  of  Jack 
Wood.  Charley  Danforth  here  has  them  safe 
in  his  stable,  and  he's  going  to  send  them  back 
here  to-day.  He  has  so  fixed  it  that  nobody  can 
ever  take  them  away  again." 

"  Thank  you  ever  so  much,  Charley,"  said  the 


THE  EVENTS  OF  A  MORNING     121 

inconsequent  Kate.  "  Of  course  I  could  have 
bought  some  other  riding-horses,  and  I  was  plan- 
ning to  do  so.  But  it  wouldn't  have  been  just  the 
same  as  having  Patty  and  Ingomar." 

Neither  of  the  young  men  had  expected  Kate 
to  understand,  and  therefore  neither  of  them  was 
astonished  by  her  speech.  But  it  wasn't  easy  for 
either  of  them  to  know  what  to  say  in  reply.  After 
a  moment  of  hesitation,  Warren  said : 

"  I'm  sorry  you  didn't  keep  the  hounds,  Kate. 
I  need  them  very  much  just  now." 

"  Well,  you  see  there  wasn't  any  gentleman  on 
the  plantation  to  use  them,  and  I  didn't  know 
when  you  were  coming  back,  so  I  thought  I  might 
as  well  give  them  away.  But  if  you  really  want 
to  go  fox-hunting,  I  think  I  could  borrow  them 
back  from  Mr.  Talcott." 

"  My  dear  Kate,  we  don't  go  fox-hunting  at 
midsummer,  with  the  tobacco  uncut,  and  the  corn 
and  wheat  standing." 

"  Then  what  did  you  want  the  hounds 
for?" 

"  Oh,  only  to  run  down  your  business  affairs. 
Charley  and  I  worked  nearly  all  night  over  them, 


122    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

and  we  haven't  even  yet  run  some  of  them  to 
cover." 

"  Oh,  I'm  so  sorry  you  didn't  tell  me.  I'd  have 
sent  you  the  coffee  urn  and  some  sandwiches. 
But  how  could  the  dogs  have  helped  you  ?  " 

"  I'm  afraid  I  can't  explain,  but  I'd  like  an- 
other cup  of  your  delicious  coffee,  if  you 
please." 

After  a  little  he  asked : 

"  Have  you  any  papers  anywhere,  Kate  — 
receipts,  bills,  business  letters,  or  anything  of 
that  sort?  If  you  have,  perhaps  you'd  better 
turn  them  over  to  Charley,  so  that  he  and  I  can 
sort  them  out  and  arrange  them." 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  have  almost  a  trunk  full.  Your 
father  taught  me  always  to  keep  business  papers, 
and  I've  always  done  it.  I  put  them  all  in  a  trunk 
up  in  the  attic.  I'll  have  it  brought  down  after 
breakfast,  but  I  give  you  warning  you  mustn't 
ask  me  anything  about  any  of  them,  for  I  never 
read  one  of  them  in  my  life.  I'm  so  glad  you  and 
Charley  are  going  to  take  charge  of  them.  You 
see  a  woman  really  isn't  fit  for  that  sort  of  thing." 

"  Oh,  yes,  — I  see  that  clearly,"  answered  the 


THE  EVENTS  OF  A  MORNING     123 

young  man.    Then  he  turned  to  Hazel  Cameron, 
and  asked  : 

"  When    do    you    want    Dolly  Yard  en  —  my 
mare  —  to  give  you  a  sitting  ?  " 


IX 

A  DWARFED  MORNING-GLORY 

AFTER  breakfast,  Rhett  and  Danforth  de- 
voted two  or  three  hours  to  a  careful 
examination  of  Kate's  business  papers. 
Some  of  them  were  advertisements.  Some 
were  bills  —  mostly  unpaid.  Some  were  "  state- 
ments of  account "  from  Skene  &  Somers, 
the  commission  merchants  in  Richmond  to 
whom,  annually,  the  tobacco  and  wheat  and 
other  products  of  the  plantation  had  been 
sent  for  sale,  and  through  whom  orders 
had  been  given  for  supplies.  These  state- 
ments of  account  covered  the  entire  period 
that  had  elapsed  since  the  death  of  Warren 
Rhett's  father,  and  they  showed  an  annually 
increasing  indebtedness  of  the  plantation  to  the 
merchants  who  handled  its  products. 
124 


A  DWARFED  MORNING-GLORY   125 

"  Those  fellows  have  been  very  decent,  don't 
you  think?"  said  Danforth,  after  the  two  had 
worked  out  the  problem. 

"  Yes  —  "  answered  Rhett,  with  a  note  as  of 
meditation  in  his  utterance.  "  Yes  —  very  decent 
indeed.  Skene  &  Somers  have  certainly  been 
very  lenient.  I  wonder  if  —  " 

He  paused  in  his  speech,  and  the  other  took 
it  up. 

"  You  wonder  if  Somers  hasn't  been  hoping  to 
marry  Kate?  The  little  whelp,  it  would  be  just 
like  him.  Miserable  little  manikin  that  he  is, 
five  feet  two  in  height  and  weighing  not  more 
than  a  hundred  and  ten  pounds,  he  has  the  assur- 
ance —  " 

"  Come,  Charley,  don't  let  your  jealousy  get 
the  better  of  your  judgment.  There  is  not  the 
smallest  danger  that  a  woman  like  Kate  will  ever 
seriously  entertain  the  suit  of  a  man  like  Somers. 
In  the  meanwhile,  Skene  &  Somers  have  cer- 
tainly behaved  very  well  toward  Kate.  Let  us 
figure  up  just  what  her  indebtedness  to  them  is, 
and  I'll  draw  a  check  for  the  amount  and  dis- 
charge it.  Then  I'll  look  out  for  some  other  com- 


126    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

mission  house  to  handle  the  products  of  Manna- 
mac  plantation." 

"  But  why  should  you  do  that,  if  you  think  they 
have  behaved  so  well  ?  Are  you  jealous,  too  ?  " 

"  Not  in  the  least,"  laughed  the  other.  "  I'm 
immune  on  that  score,  as  you  will  readily  see  when 
you  reflect  that  Kate  was  my  father's  wife.  But 
I  don't  intend  to  leave  the  plantation's  affairs 
in  the  hands  of  any  but  alert  business  men.  Skene 
&  Somers  are  not  good  business  men  —  other- 
wise they  would  never  have  left  things  at  loose 
ends  as  they  have  done.  They  would  at  the  very 
least  have  required  that  Kate  should  give  them 
her  note  for  the  money  due  them.  No,  I  thank 
them  sincerely  for  their  lenity  to  Kate,  but  I  shall 
certainly  not  do  business  with  men  so  negligent. 
They'll  '  go  broke '  some  fine  morning,  and  it 
might  happen  that  they  should  owe  Mannamac 
the  entire  proceeds  of  a  year's  crop  at  the 
time." 

At  that  moment  Hazel  Cameron  came  down 
the  stairway  into  the  great  entrance- hall  where 
the  two  men  sat. 

"  Pardon  me,"  she  said,  shrinking  back  as  if 


PARDON  ME,  I  DIDN'T  KNOW  YOU  GENTLEMEN  WERE  STILL 
AT  WORK  HERE."  —  Page  126. 


A  DWARFED  MORNING-GLORY   127 

in  retreat.    "  I  didn't  know  you  gentlemen  were 
still  at  work  here.     I'll  go  to  the  garden." 

"  Indeed  you  shall  not,"  answered  Rhett.  "  Or 
at  any  rate  you  shall  not  go  alone.  I  haven't  in- 
spected the  garden  as  yet,  and  if  I  may  I  will  go 
with  you.  After  that,  you  and  I  will  go  to  the 
stables  and  I'll  make  Dolly  pose  for  you.  You 
see,  I  must  get  her  used  to  me,  and  this  will  be 
a  good  opportunity.  Henry  will  order  your  horse 
for  you,  Charley,  when  you  get  ready  to  go. 
And,  Henry,  as  soon  as  Mr.  Danforth  closes  and 
locks  that  trunk,  I  want  you  to  have  a  man  take 
it  over  to  the  Court- House  in  a  cart,  and  deliver 
it  at  his  office.  See  to  it  at  once,  do  you  hear? 
You'll  be  back  to-night,  Charley  ?  Then  ta  ta  — 
so  long  —  and  all  the  rest  of  the  partings.  Come 
as  early  as  you  can,  and  be  sure  to  be  here  before 
supper,  or  Kate  will  be  distressed." 

With  that  he  gently  took  Hazel's  elbow  in  his 
hand  and  piloted  her  to  the  garden. 

The  walks  there  were  a  good  deal  grass  grown, 
and  no  bed  in  all  that  acre  of  highly  fertilized 
land  had  been  properly  weeded.  The  glass  of 
the  cold  frames  was  broken  in  many  places  but 


128    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

that  could  wait,  as  the  cold  frames  were  needed 
only  in  the  spring,  and  the  paling  fence  that 
surrounded  the  enclosure,  and  was  intended 
to  keep  the  hares  out,  was  in  many  places  out  of 
repair. 

Rhett  took  in  the  situation  at  a  glance,  but  for 
the  moment  he  said  nothing.  Instead  he  went 
to  some  rose-bushes  and  gathered  a  handful  of 
American  beauties,  which  he  presented  to  Hazel. 
Then  he  called  to  the  head  gardener,  who  was  not 
far  away,  and  when  the  negro  came  to  him  he 
spoke  with  him  in  an  entirely  unemotional  voice. 

"  Your  garden  is  in  very  bad  shape,"  he  said. 
"  Would  you  mind  telling  me  why  ?  " 

"  Well,  sir,  you  see  I'se  a  little  short  o'  help  in 
de  gyarden." 

"  How  many  assistants  have  you  ?  " 

"  Four;  but  one  on  'em's  only  a  boy." 

"  And  the  garden  covers  a  little  less  than  an 
acre?  Four  men  and  a  boy,  cultivating  so  small 
a  space,  ought  not  to  leave  a  weed  in  existence. 
Call  your  assistants  and  set  them  at  work  at  once 
on  those  beds  "  —  pointing. 

"  But  I  can't  call  'em  now,  Mas'  Warren."    It 


A  DWARFED  MORNING-GLORY   129 

was  the  first  time  the  negro  had  lapsed  into  the 
old  form  of  address. 

"  Why  not  ?    Have  you  lost  your  voice  ?  " 

"  No,  sir,  but  you  see,  sir  —  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  I  see,  clearly  enough.  I  see  weeds 
everywhere  and  the  grossest  kind  of  neglect. 
Call  your  assistants  at  once." 

"  But  I  can't,  Mas'  Warren.  You  see  dey's  a 
succus  "  —  the  man  meant  circus  —  "  over  at 
de  Court- House,  an*  all  de  boys  is  gone  to  see  it." 

"  Oh,  indeed  ?  How  happens  it  that  you  are 
not  there,  too  ?  " 

"  Well,  you  see,  Mis'  Kate,  she  done  sot  me  a 
job  to  do  this  morning,  an*  so  I  made  up  my  min' 
not  to  go  till  'twas  time  to  go  into  de  tent.  Dat'll 
be  long  'bout  two  o'clock." 

"Oh,  I  see,"  answered  Rhett,  still  speaking 
in  the  level  and  unimpassioned  voice  that  had 
been  his  from  the  first.  "  So  you  are  going  to  the 
Court-House  to  see  the  circus,  too,  and  your 
assistants  went  early  this  morning  to  make  a  day 
of  it.  Have  any  of  you  asked  permission  of  your 
Mis' Kate?" 

"  W'y,  no,  of  course  not,  Mas'  Warren.    Since 


1 30    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

we's  been  sot  free  we  don't  have  to  ask  no  per- 
mission." 

"  Oh,  you  don't  ?  Then  you  are  a  good  deal 
freer  than  any  white  man  is,  who  works  for  wages. 
Miss  Cameron,  here  is  something  that  will  interest 
you.  It  is  a  dwarf  morning-glory  —  convolvulus 
major,  you  know  —  and  the  history  of  it  is  pecul- 
iar. When  I  was  a  boy  here  at  Mannamac,  I 
sowed  some  morning- glory  seeds  in  a  bed  of  barren 
gravel,  where  I  wanted  to  cover  up  some  ugliness. 
They  sprouted,  but  the  vines  reached  only  an 
inch  or  two  or  perhaps  three  in  height,  and  they 
bore  diminutive  flowers,  like  these  —  not  over  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  in  their  greatest  dimension. 
They  made  seed,  however,  and  I  sowed  the  seed 
here  in  good  soil.  It  produced  the  dwarf  flowers 
again,  to  my  astonishment,  and  obviously,  it  is 
producing  them  still.  Don't  you  think  it  is  very 
interesting?" 

"  Perhaps  the  dwarf  form  is  natural  to  the 
plant,"  she  answered,  conjecturally.  "  Perhaps 
it  has  been  brought  into  larger  form  only  by 
cultivation,  and  has  seized  upon  an  opportunity 
to  revert." 


A  DWARFED  MORNING-GLORY   131 

"  I  thought  of  that,  but  it  isn't  the  right  answer. 
You  see  the  morning-glory  grows  wild  all  over  the 
South.  In  Mississippi  it  is  one  of  the  most  prolific 
of  the  weeds  that  fret  the  cotton- fields.  It  is 
beneficent  in  its  way.  It  covers  every  old  stump 
and  converts  every  neglected  rail  pile  into  an 
object  of  beauty.  But  it  tries  to  clamber  over  all 
the  cotton-plants  as  well,  choking  them  to  death, 
and  its  suppression  involves  a  world  of  labor. 
But  everywhere,  in  its  wild  state,  the  morning- 
glory  bears  full-sized  and  very  brilliant  blossoms. 
It  is  curious  that  in  all  these  years  of  self-seeding 
in  rich  soil  these  dwarfed  morning-glories  haven't 
reverted  to  their  norm." 

"  Perhaps,"  the  girl  answered,  "  it  is  because 
it  is  much  easier  for  men  and  animals  and  plants 
to  degenerate  than  to  recover  from  degeneracy. 
I  think  it  is." 

"  That  is  a  fruitful  thought,"  he  answered, 
eagerly.  Then  with  one  of  those  sudden  transi- 
tions which  were  common  with  this  alert-minded 
young  man,  and  which  had  become  a  matter  of 
interested  observation  to  the  young  woman,  he 
turned  again  to  the  gardener  and  asked: 


132     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  Are  you  going  to  the  circus  this  afternoon  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Mas'  Warren,  of  course,  1  couldn't  miss 
dat." 

"  Very  well.  It  may  interest  you  to  know  that 
if  you  leave  the  plantation  for  any  such  purpose 
without  first  asking  and  receiving  Mrs.  Rhett's 
permission  to  do  so,  you  will  not  be  permitted 
to  come  back." 

"  But,  Mas'  Warren  —  "  began  the  man.  Rhett 
interrupted : 

"  You  heard  what  I  said.  I  mean  it.  You 
have  your  warning.  The  others  were  not  warned. 
I  shall  make  their  punishment  lighter." 

Then  turning  to  Hazel,  he  said : 

"  Come,  Miss  Cameron,  let's  go  to  the  stables 
and  interview  Dolly  Varden.  Would  you  like 
to  have  sketching  materials  with  you,  or  shall 
this  be  only  a  visit  of  preliminary  study  ?  " 

"  You  are  very  good,"  she  answered,  with  a 
certain  suggestion  of  emotional  disturbance  in 
her  voice  which  Rhett  did  not  understand.  "  I'll 
take  a  little  sketch-book  and  some  pencils  with 
me.  I  might  need  them,  you  know." 

But  while  Rhett  did  not  understand  the  occa- 


A  DWARFED  MORNING-GLORY   133 

sion  for  the  girl's  emotion,  he  recognized  it,  and, 
being  a  gentleman,  he  sought  to  provide  against 
her  embarrassment. 

"  I  wonder  where  Kate  is?  "  he  said.  "  She 
loves  a  good  horse,  too,  and  if  she  isn't  too,  much 
absorbed  in  some  problem  of  ruchings  or  feathers 
or  furnishings  of  her  dinner- table,  she'll  be  glad 
to  go  with  us.  Let's  find  her." 

The  girl  stopped  in  the  middle  of  the  walk, 
and,  facing  him  almost  angrily,  asked: 

"  Why  do  you  make  fun  of  Kate?  Don't  you 
know  she  is  one  of  the  noblest,  as  well  as  one  of 
the  sweetest  of  women  ?  " 

Rhett  confronted  her  with  all  that  was  possible 
of  earnestness  and  sincerity  in  his  eyes,  and,  after 
a  moment,  answered : 

"  I  know  all  that,  and  Kate  knows  that  I  know 
it.  She  knows  that  the  man  who  should  seriously 
affront  her  would  have  to  answer  to  me,  with  a 
rigid  accounting.  But  it  has  been  my  habit  to 
laugh  at  Kate  and  to  hear  her  laugh  back,  ever 
since  she  and  I  were  boy  and  girl  together.  And 
in  view  of  some  things  that  have  happened,  per- 
haps it  is  just  as  well  that  I  am  able  to  laugh  at 


i34    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

Kate  and  Kate  able  to  laugh  back  at  me.  Ask 
her,  in  some  moment  of  confidence.  If  she 
doesn't  want  me  to  laugh  at  her,  I'll  never  do  it 
again." 

The  girl  was  silent  for  a  time,  and  the  two 
walked  on  to  the  house,  where  they  were  to  look 
for  Kate.  As  they  mounted  the  steps  of  the  back 
porch,  Hazel  said: 

"  I  was  impertinent,  Mr.  Rhett,  and  I'm  sorry. 
I  hope  you  will  forgive  me." 

"  You  were  not  impertinent  in  the  least.  It 
is  only  that  you  misunderstood.  Your  jealousy 
of  Kate's  dignity  altogether  pleases  me.  You 
heard  what  I  said  to  the  gardener  ?  " 

"  Yes.  But  do  you  mean  to  be  so  hard  upon 
him  as  that?" 

"  Yes.  I  mean  to  be  very  hard.  These  negroes 
have  been  taught  a  false  doctrine  by  their  school- 
masters, and  they  must  unlearn  it  all  if  they  are 
to  remain  at  Mannamac.  They  have  been  taught 
that  their  freedom  carries  with  it  a  license  to  dis- 
regard all  obligation  —  even  the  obligation  of  a 
contract.  It  will  be  for  their  own  good  if  I  teach 
them  otherwise.  At  any  rate,  I  will  not  have 


A  DWARFED  MORNING-GLORY   135 

them  treat  Kate  —  who  feeds  them  and  pays  them 
—  as  if  she  were  of  no  consequence,  and  had  no 
authority.  They  must  learn  to  respect  her 
authority  and  her  dignity,  or  they  must  get  off  the 
plantation,  and  that  lesson  is  already  called  for 
recitation.  Just  before  you  and  I  went  into  the 
garden,  I  sent  a  messenger  to  the  fields  with  an 
instruction  to  Isaac  concerning  the  work  I  had 
ordered  done  to-day.  I  did  not  expect  that  the 
messenger  would  find  Isaac  or  any  of  the  hands 
at  work,  and  he  did  not.  They  have  all  gone 
to  see  the  circus  parade,  and  not  one  of  them  has 
so  much  as  asked  leave.  They  all  knew  that 
leave  would  be  theirs  for  the  asking.  But  they 
are  insolently  determined  not  to  ask  leave.  Very 
well,  I  will  teach  them  a  truer  gospel  of  freedom, 
or  I  will  drive  every  man  jack  of  them  off  the 
plantation.  They  have  misinterpreted  their 
liberty  in  the  same  way  with  reference  to  their 
work.  They  expect  Kate  to  feed  them  and  pay 
them  in  strict  accordance  with  their  contracts, 
but  on  their  part  they  feel  free  to  violate  the 
contracts  at  will,  to  neglect  the  work  at  their  good 
pleasure.  It  is  my  function  to  awaken  their 


136    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

minds,  as  it  were,  to  impress  upon  them  a  sense 
of  the  mutuality  of  contracts." 

"What  will  you  do?" 

"  Take  possession  of  the  smoke-house  key. 
To-morrow  is  the  day  for  the  issue  of  three  days' 
rations.  I  shall  issue  only  two  days'  supplies  to 
those  who  have  quitted  their  work  to-day  without 
asking  leave." 

"  But  isn't  that  rather  hard  upon  them  ?  " 

"  I  hope  they  will  so  regard  it.  Otherwise  the 
discipline  would  be  lost  upon  them.  At  any  rate, 
it  is  not  in  the  least  unjust.  They  have  contracted 
to  do  three  hundred  days'  work  for  three  hundred 
days'  pay,  and  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  days' 
food  supplies.  They  have  not  done  their  work  at 
all  faithfully,  and  as  a  consequence  Kate's  affairs 
are  in  a  state  of  stress.  I  cannot  deal  with  that 
now.  But  with  to-day's  malfeasance  I  can  deal, 
and  I  will,  in  a  way  that  ought  to  enlighten  their 
minds.  They  have  quitted  pressingly  needed 
work  without  even  asking  permission.  They  have 
abandoned  for  a  day  the  duty  for  the  doing  of 
which  Kate  is  expected  to  pay  them  a  day's  wages 
and  give  them  a  day's  food.  I  shall  accept  their 


A  DWARFED  MORNING-GLORY    137 

terms.  I  shall  dock  every  man  of  them  the 
equivalent  of  a  day's  pay  and  cut  off  a  day's 
rations.  There  isn't  a  labor  union  in  all  the  land 
that  would  not  approve  that  as  just  and  right." 

"  But  negroes  are  so  different,  you  know.  Of 
course  they  can't  resist  the  temptation  of  a  circus." 

"  True.  But  if  they  take  their  pleasure  they 
must  pay  for  it  as  all  other  people  must  do,  or  at 
the  very  least  they  must  ask  leave.  They  have  no 
right  to  expect  Kate  to  pay  them  for  a  day's  work 
that  they  haven't  done,  unless  they  have  her 
permission.  The  fundamental  error  of  the  negroes, 
Miss  Cameron,  is  in  supposing  that  they  can 
enjoy  the  privileges  of  free  men  without  paying 
the  price  that  all  other  free  men  pay.  They  ex- 
pect to  be  free  and  at  the  same  time  to  be  cared 
for  as  they  were  in  slavery.  They  want  all  the 
persimmons  and  they  don't  want  to  wield  the 
pole." 

"  But  nobody  else  holds  them  to  so  rigid  a  rule. 
What  if  they  refuse  to  submit  to  what  you  pro- 
pose?" 

"  Then  of  course  they  must  leave  the  plantation 
at  once.  So  long  as  they  remain  upon  it,  they  must 


138    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

obey  orders  and  fulfil  the  obligations  of  their  con- 
tracts. Their  case  is  not  different  from  that  of 
other  men  under  contract  to  labor." 

"  But  what  about  Kate  ?  Suppose  all  her  hands 
should  leave  in  a  body?  Who  would  cultivate 
her  fields?" 

"  A  gang  of  Italians  under  a  padrone.  I  would 
telegraph  to  my  partners  for  them,  and  have  them 
here  within  twenty-four  hours.  And  each  man 
of  them  would  do  more  work  in  a  day  than  any 
negro  has  ever  done  on  this  plantation  in  a  week. 
Now  let  me  make  myself  understood,  Miss  Cam- 
eron. I  know  you  think  me  hard  and  cruel  —  " 

"  I  do  not  think  you  cruel,"  she  answered. 
"  It  is  only  that  I  don't  understand." 

"  Very  well,  then.    You  shall  understand." 

At  that  moment  Kate  came  out  of  the  house, 
key  basket  in  hand,  and  said: 

"  Oh,  I'm  so  glad  to  find  you,  Warren !  To 
save  my  life,  I  can't  make  out  how  much  seven 
times  one  and  three-quarters  is  —  or  are,  —  bother 
the  grammar  of  it  —  the  thing  is  serious.  It 
pertains  to  rations." 

"  Turn  it  over  to  me,  Kate,"  the  young  man 


A  DWARFED  MORNING-GLORY    139 

answered,  "  and  let  me  have  the  smoke-house 
key.  For  a  time,  at  least,  I'll  take  all  these  prob- 
lems off  your  hands  and  I  know  how  to  multiply 
one  and  three-quarters  by  seven." 

"  Oh,  I'm  so  glad  !  You  don't  know  how  these 
things  bother  me.  I  don't  think  it  was  fair  to 
invent  fractions,  anyhow.  Why  couldn't  they 
have  left  arithmetic  in  whole  numbers?  It  is  so 
much  easier.  You  see  I  can  remember  that  six 
times  eight  is  forty-two,  but  when  it  comes  to 
fractions  I'm  all  at  sea." 

"  Six  times  eight  are  forty-eight,  Kate,"  an- 
swered Rhett,  "  but  that  isn't  a  matter  of  any 
importance.  The  thing  of  real  consequence  is 
that  you  shall  turn  your  smoke-house  keys  over 
to  me  for  a  time,  and  let  me  manage  the  distribu- 
tion of  rations.  Come.  Don't  you  want  to  go  to 
the  stables  with  Miss  Cameron  and  me?  She's 
going  to  make  a  picture  of  my  new  mare,  Dolly 
Varden." 

"  Why,  of  course  I'll  go.  You  see  Hazel  is  a 
genius  and  she'll  idealize  your  mare  —  or  ought 
I  to  say  idolize?  You  see  in  girls'  schools,  they 
teach  things  so  much  more  loosely  than  they  do 


i4o    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

in  boys'  schools.  Now  there  was  that  mistake 
I  made  a  few  minutes  ago,  when  I  said  that  six 
times  eight  was  forty- eight  when  really  it  is  forty- 
two.  You  see  no  boy  would  be  capable  of  a 
blunder  like  that.  But  it's  time  for  snack,  so  we 
can't  go  to  the  stables  yet.  Oh,  Warren,  you  don't 
know  how  good  it  is  to  have  you  here  to  look  after 
things  and  especially  to  do  the  sums  and  slice  the 
ham.  You  know  I  can't  help  cutting  it  thick, 
and  of  course  that's  a  crime." 


X 

THE  BIRTH  OF  ACQUAINTANCE 

THE  days  went  on  agreeably  at  Mannamac. 
Charley  Danforth  —  who  had  not  visited 
the  plantation  for  years  before  —  came 
every  day  now.  Usually  he  arrived  in  the  dusk 
of  the  evening,  though  often  he  came  in  time  for 
the  four  o'clock  dinner.  In  either  event  he 
remained  overnight,  so  that  the  evenings  —  moon 
or  no  moon  —  saw  a  pleasant  company  assembled 
in  the  porch  if  the  weather  permitted,  in  the 
great  drawing-room  if  the  weather  happened  to 
be  unfavorable  —  as  usually  it  did  not.  The 
weather  of  the  Virginian  midsummer  rarely  plays 
tricks  upon  those  who  are  disposed  to  rejoice. 
On  about  three  days  out  of  five  it  furnishes  what 
the  Virginians  call  tc  a  thunder-cloud,"  during 
the  afternoon.  But  the  "  thunder-cloud  "  only 
clears  the  air  for  an  evening  in  the  porch.  If  there 

ever  was  anywhere  on  earth  a  finer  or  more 
141 


1 42    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

enjoyable  climate  than  that  of  Virginia  in  sum- 
mer-time, it  is  that  of  summer-time  in  Virginia. 

And  nobody  ever  appreciated  the  conditions 
thus  furnished  by  the  climate  more  gratefully 
than  did  the  two  women  and  the  two  men  who 
at  this  time  constituted  the  company  in  the  great, 
colonnaded  porch  at  Mannamac. 

Now  and  then  a  carriage  full  of  callers  would 
drive  up,  and  these  always  received  a  sufficiently 
cordial  welcome  to  satisfy  their  minds.  But  if 
they  did  not  come,  the  four  who  constituted  the 
resident  company  there  in  the  porch  made  no 
complaint  of  the  fortune  that  kept  others  away. 
After  all,  the  callers  were  apt  to  be  "  new  people  " 
in  Virginia,  and  —  "  Well,  we  can  be  happy  with- 
out them,"  Kate  was  accustomed  to  say. 

It  had  been  so  very  long  since  Charley  Dan- 
forth  had  been  at  Mannamac,  that  naturally  he 
had  a  great  deal  to  say  to  Kate,  and  she  a  great 
deal  to  communicate  to  him.  This,  of  course, 
threw  Warren  Rhett  and  Hazel  Cameron  each 
upon  the  other  as  the  only  available  conversa- 
tional resource,  and  of  necessity  the  personal 
acquaintance  of  the  two  rapidly  ripened. 


THE  BIRTH  OF  ACQUAINTANCE    143 

Warren  had  been  attracted  by  the  peculiar 
charm  of  Hazel's  manner,  as  she  had  been  fas- 
cinated with  his  personality  and  with  his  character 
as  it  little  by  little  unfolded  itself.  She  rarely 
spoke  of  herself  or  of  her  affairs  —  never,  indeed, 
except  in  answer  to  direct  questions  —  so  that  it 
was  very  slowly  that  Warren  learned  anything 
about  her.  He  might  have  got  the  whole  story 
from  Kate,  of  course  —  if  Kate  could  have  kept 
her  attention  upon  the  telling  of  it  long  enough 
to  enlighten  him,  without  going  off  at  a  tangent 
of  thought  or  memory.  Indeed,  Kate  really 
wanted  to  tell  him  about  Hazel,  and  to  that  end 
she  one  evening  deliberately  "  changed  partners," 
as  it  were,  sending  Danforth  out  into  the  shrub- 
bery to  talk  with  Hazel,  while  she  herself  retired 
with  Rhett  to  the  back  porch  with  the  avowed 
purpose  of  "  telling  him  all  about  Hazel."  But 
she  made  no  very  great  success  out  of  the  effort, 
as  a  report  of  what  happened  upon  that  occasion 
will  perhaps  show. 

"  There,"  Kate  said,  as  the  two  began  to 
promenade  the  rear  porch,  "  there !  I've  got 
those  two  off  at  last,  and  I  am  going  to  tell  you 


144    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

all  about  Hazel.  You  see,  Warren,  she's  the  very 
dearest,  sweetest  girl  in  the  world  — " 

"  Oh,  that's  like  a  deaf  and  dumb  asylum," 
he  interrupted. 

"A  deaf  and  dumb  asylum?  How  on  earth 
do  you  mean,  Warren?" 

"  Why,  simply  that  it  '  goes  without  saying.'" 

"  I  don't  understand  you  at  all." 

"  Of  course  not.  Don't  try  to.  Just  believe 
that  I  am  —  well,  let  us  say,  very  greatly  pleased 
with  your  friend,  Miss  Hazel  Cameron,  so  greatly 
pleased  as  to  need  no  praise  of  her  at  your  hands. 
Then  go  on  and  tell  me  about  her.  Give  her  a 
local  habitation  and  a  name.  Where  did  you  find 
her?  Who  is  she?  Whence  cometh  she?  Tell 
me  about  her." 

"  But  I  can't  if  you  go  on  interrupting  me  in 
that  way.  You  see  I  started  to  tell  you  how 
charming  she  is  —  " 

"  And  I  had  discovered  all  that  for  myself  —  " 

"  There  you  go,  interrupting  me  again !  How 
can  I  tell  you  about  her  if  you  won't  let  me  talk  ? 
You  see,  men  can  be  interrupted  and  then  come 
back  to  what  they  wanted  to  say  and  say  it  straight. 


THE  BIRTH  OF  ACQUAINTANCE   145 

Women  can't  do  that.  Yes,  Hazel  can,  and  often 
she  does.  That's  one  of  the  things  about  her  that 
fascinate  me.  Where  was  I  ?  Oh,  I  know  —  but 
you  interrupt  so.  I  was  going  to  say  that  I  sup- 
pose the  difference  between  women  and  men  is 
due  to  the  different  ways  they  are  taught  at  school. 
Still,  there's  Hazel,  of  course.  She  was  in  the 
same  school  with  me,  and  yet  she's  different.  Of 
course  she  was  much  younger  than  me  —  and  I 
suppose  that  makes  a  difference.  Or  ought  I  to 
say  she  was  younger  than  I  ?  I  never  can  remem- 
ber which  is  right,  and  Hazel  always  knows.  Isn't 
it  queer?  But  as  I  was  about  to  say,  of  course, 
under  the  circumstances  you  simply  mustn't  fall 
in  love  with  Hazel,  though  if  I  were  a  man  I'd 
do  it  anyhow,  and  take  the  consequences." 

Rhett  was  about  to  ask,  "  What  circumstances 
do  you  refer  to,  Kate?  You  haven't  mentioned 
any  that  seem  to  forbid  me  to  fall  in  love  with 
your  friend,  as  I  am  strongly  disposed  to  do,"  but 
he  felt  in  his  soul  that  the  query  would  result  in 
nothing.  Furthermore,  he  vaguely  realized  that 
he  had  already  done  the  thing  that  Kate's  utterly 
unrevealed  "  circumstances  "  forbade  him  to  do; 


146    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OP  IT  ALL 

and  still  furthermore,  at  that  moment  Hazel  and 
Danforth  —  having  exhausted  interest  in  each 
other's  conversational  resources  perhaps  — 
marched  through  the  great  passageway  and  con- 
fronted the  other  two  with  the  announcement  that 
the  gibbous  moon  was  just  then  beginning  to 
climb  the  eastern  sky,  and  that  certain  of  its  light 
and  shadow  effects,  as  revealed  among  the  trees 
in  front,  were  "  really  too  fine  to  be  missed." 

Thus  ended  Kate's  carefully  arranged  effort 
to  tell  Warren  "  all  about  Hazel."  Kate  was  sure 
she  had  done  so,  and  her  soul  was  satisfied. 

Warren  was  not  seriously  disappointed.  He 
felt  that  he  knew  a  good  deal  about  Hazel  already, 
and  he  had  confidence  in  his  ability  to  discover 
the  rest,  particularly  as  he  and  Hazel  were  now 
riding  together  every  morning,  while  Danforth 
and  Kate  managed  somehow  to  keep  a  hundred 
yards  or  so  in  the  rear.  Sometimes  the  hundred 
yards'  interval  stretched  itself  to  half  a  mile  or 
more. 

As  he  and  Hazel  rode  they  talked,  but  that  was 
by  no  means  all  of  it.  The  two  were  comrades 
in  other  ways.  They  discussed  books  and  art; 


THE  BIRTH  OF  ACQUAINTANCE  147 

they  exchanged  views  as  to  social  relations,  moral- 
ities, and  the  like,  little  by  little  coming  to  under- 
stand each  other  and  more  and  more  to  appre- 
ciate each  other. 

There  were  certain  characteristics  of  Warren 
Rhett  that  filled  Hazel  with  amazement  and 
admiration,  though  the  individual  manifestations 
of  the  qualities  were  in  themselves  trifling.  She 
had  already  been  much  impressed  by  his  peculiar 
gift  of  securing  obedience  even  from  the  unwilling, 
and  without  any  sort  of  bluster.  She  had  spoken 
of  this  to  Kate,  and  Kate  had  answered : 

"  Oh,  yes.  He's  just  like  his  father,  only  more 
so.  Whatever  he  makes  up  his  mind  for  you  to 
do  you've  simply  got  to  do,  and  that's  all  there  is 
about  it.  Sometimes  you  don't  want  to,  or  you 
think  you  don't  want  to,  or  at  least  you  think  that 
you  think  you  don't  want  to  —  I've  got  that  mixed, 
but  you  know  what  I  mean.  It  was  always  so, 
even  when  he  and  I  were  boy  and  girl  together. 
That's  what  made  it  so  hard  for  me  when  his 
father  decided  to  marry  me,  —  so  hard  to  tell  him 
about  it,  you  know,  —  but  I  must  say  he  made  it 
.as  easy  as  he  could  for  me.  Why,  he  didn't 


148    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

even  laugh,  Hazel!  Don't  you  think  that  was 
very  nice  of  him?  " 

"  I  think  Mr.  Rhett's  conduct  on  that  occasion 
was  exemplary,"  the  girl  replied.  "  You've  told 
me  all  about  it  before,  you  know  ?  " 

"  Did  I  ?  I  had  forgotten.  Well,  then  let's  talk 
of  something  else.  Do  you  know,  I  don't  think 
green  is  becoming  to  me,  do  you  ?  " 

"Why  not  consult  Mr.  Rhett  on  that  point? 
His  taste  seems  to  be  excellent,  so  far  as  I  can 
discover." 

"  Oh,  I  know  what  he  would  advise.  He'd 
dress  me  in  deep  reds,  if  he  had  his  way.  He 
always  did  when  —  when  I  was  a  girl  and  he 
cared  about  it."  There  was  just  a  touch  of 
melancholy  in  her  tone.  "  Once  when  I  had  only 
one  red  gown  and  it  got  a  bit  worn,  he  wouldn't 
let  me  wear  anything  else,  till  I  simply  had  to  send 
and  get  some  others  like  it.  That's  what  we  were 
talking  about,  isn't  it  ?  —  his  way  of  making  every- 
body do  as  he  says  ?  " 

"  Yes,  that  is  what  we  were  talking  about," 
answered  Hazel,  abstractedly.  Hazel  understood 
Kate  better  than  anybody  else  ever  did.  Perhaps 


THE  BIRTH  OF  ACQUAINTANCE  149 

that  is  why  the  two  were  bound  together  in  so 
perfect  a  friendship. 

One  morning,  when  the  little  cavalcade  was 
setting  out  for  a  ride  of  a  dozen  miles  before 
breakfast,  Dolly  Varden  seemed  a  good  deal  more 
restless  than  usual.  She  wanted  to  do  things  —  to 
run,  to  jump  fences,  to  break  her  own  or  her 
rider's  neck — to  do  anything  that  might  break 
monotony  —  anything  that  might  enable  her  to 
express  herself  and  to  work  off  some  of  the 
pent-up  energy  within  her.  She  bit  at  the  other 
horses.  She  kicked  at  them  viciously.  She  struck 
out  with  a  fore  foot  at  the  negro  who  was  holding 
her  head,  so  terrifying  him  that  he  abandoned  his 
duty  and  fled. 

Rhett  soothed  the  excited  creature  with  caresses 
of  voice  and  hand.  Then  he  mounted  to  the  saddle 
and  with  one  sharp  command  to  her  to  "  be  still," 
reduced  her  to  subjection.  She  continued,  how- 
ever, to  tremble  with  suppressed  excitement,  and 
Rhett,  taking  pity  upon  her,  turned  to  his  com- 
panions and  said: 

"  Excuse  me  for  a  brief  while.  The  poor 
creature  wants  a  little  run,  just  to  relieve  her  over- 


150    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

wrought  nerves.  Ride  out  along  the  Pine  Quarter 
road,  and  I'll  join  you  after  she  has  had  her  spin." 

Then  turning  the  mare  in  an  opposite  di- 
rection, he  gave  her  her  head,  permitting  her  to 
choose  her  own  pace.  She  chose  full  speed,  and 
when,  after  half  a  mile  of  it,  he  turned  her  about, 
she  voluntarily  fell  into  a  graceful  gallop,  which 
ended  in  a  trot,  as  he  caught  up  with  the  rest  of 
the  company  on  the  Pine  Quarter  road.  As  he 
rode  up  by  the  side  of  Hazel,  he  called  to  his  mare 
to  "  Walk !  "  and  she  instantly  obeyed  —  having 
worked  off  the  nervous  excitement  that  had 
tormented  her. 

A  few  moments  later  the  party  met  a  negro 
boy  mounted  bareback  on  a  mule  —  a  boy  whom 
Kate  had  sent  with  certain  notes  of  hers  to  neigh- 
bors, summoning  the  elect  among  them  to  be  her 
guests  at  dinner  that  day ;  for  Kate  was  troubled 
that  she  had  in  no  formal  fashion  marked  Warren's 
return  to  the  home  of  his  fathers. 

Warren  stopped  the  boy  with  a  question : 

"Why  didn't  you  curry  and  water  that  mule 
before  you  started  ?  " 

"Well  sir,  you  see  —  " 


THE  BIRTH  OF  ACQUAINTANCE  151 

"Yes,  I  see.  That's  enough.  The  mule's 
coat  is  rough  and  dirty,  and  its  hollow  flanks 
show  clearly  that  it  is  suffering  for  want  of  water. 
Go  on  home.  Give  the  beast  all  the  water  it  wants, 
and  then  curry  it  properly.  I'll  look  at  it  when  I 
get  back.  After  you've  done  that  —  after  it, 
remember  —  tell  Everard  I  want  him  to  build  a 
fence  enclosing  the  ground  around  this  mare's 
stable  —  about  an  acre  of  it  —  for  a  paddock. 
Tell  him  there  are  a  lot  of  rails  in  piles  down  in 
the  dense  woods  by  the  second  bridge  over  the 
creek,  where  the  fence  was  removed  a  year  or  so 
ago.  He  can  use  them  for  the  paddock." 

Then  turning  to  the  girl  by  his  side,  he  said  : 

"  The  mare  needs  a  little  more  liberty,  and  a 
paddock  will  give  it  to  her." 

"  I'm  glad  you  look  at  liberty  in  that  way," 
said  Hazel. 

"Precisely,  how  do  you  mean?"  he  asked, 
adding :  "  I'm  interested." 

"  Why,  that  liberty  is  something  to  which  every 
living  creature  is  entitled,  but  that  its  enjoyment 
must  be  regulated,  restricted,  restrained." 

He  thought  a  moment,  and  then  said: 


152    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  I  wish  you  would  enlarge  upon  your  thought. 
There  is  back  of  it  something  that  it  might  be 
intellectually  profitable  for  me  to  hear." 

"  Well,  it  seems  to  me  that  restraint  upon 
liberty  is  necessary  to  the  highest  enjoyment  of 
liberty  itself.  You  plan  to  give  Dolly  Varden  a 
certain  liberty,  —  liberty  to  walk  or  run  about 
over  an  acre  or  so  of  ground,  liberty  to  lie  down 
and  roll,  when  she  pleases.  But  you  are  going  to 
put  a  fence  around  her  paddock.  If  you  didn't 
she  would  wander  away  into  the  corn-fields  or 
the  wheat-fields,  and  to-morrow  she  would  die 
of  founder.  Absolute  liberty  would  be  fatal  to 
her." 

"  I  see,"  he  said,  after  a  moment's  pause. 
"But  how  about  intelligent  human  beings?  I 
have  a  theory  that  every  human  being  born  into 
this  world  has  a  right  to  do  precisely  as  he  pleases, 
so  long  as  in  doing  as  he  pleases  he  does  not, 
directly  or  indirectly,  interfere  with  or  abridge 
the  equal  right  of  any  other  human  being  to  do 
as  he  pleases." 

The  two  rode  on  for  a  space  before  the  girl 
replied : 


THE  BIRTH  OF  ACQUAINTANCE  153 

"  Your  doctrine  is  sound  enough,  I  think,  but 
in  practical  effect  we  are  too  apt  to  forget  the 
'  so  long  as  '  —  the  qualification,  the  necessary 
limitation  upon  liberty." 

"  Would  you  mind  illustrating?  "   he  asked. 

"  Well,  if  you  were  minded  to  make  all  that 
is  possible  of  discordant  noise,  and  if  you  came  out 
here  into  these  woodlands  that  belong  to  you,  and 
that  are  remote  from  the  dwellings  of  your  fellow 
men,  you  might  whoop  and  halloo,  and  beat  tom- 
toms to  your  heart's  content,  and  you  would  be 
within  your  right.  But  if  you  invaded  the  residence 
streets  of  a  city  with  such  noises,  thereby  robbing 
other  people  of  their  right  to  peace,  you  would  be 
justly  arrested  and  punished.  Most  of  the  injus- 
tices that  afflict  us  in  life,  it  seems  to  me,  are  due 
solely  to  that  kind  of  forgetfulness  of  the  limita- 
tions of  liberty." 

The  girl  had  never  made  so  long  a  speech  in 
her  life,  before,  but  under  inspiration  of  this  man's 
mind  she  had  begun  to  think  seriously,  and  her 
utterance  was  a  first  fruit  of  that  serious  thinking. 
She  shrank  a  little  from  further  expression,  but 
there  was  one  more  thought  in  her  mind  that  it 


i54    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

seemed  necessary  to  utter,  if  only  to  complete 
what  she  had  said. 

"  In  brief,"  she  continued,  "  every  obligation 
that  we  assume  in  life,  and  not  only  so,  but  every 
obligation  that  circumstances  impose  upon  us, 
is  a  limitation  upon  liberty.  The  very  existence 
of  other  people  in  the  same  world  with  us  is  a 
paddock  fence  around  us,  restraining  us  from 
straying  into  forbidden  fields." 

As  they  talked,  they  came  to  a  plantation  gate 
across  the  public  road.  Rhett  forced  his  mare 
unwillingly  up  to  it  and  opened  it,  without  inter- 
rupting the  conversation.  A  little  later  they  came 
upon  that  one  of  the  negroes  who  posed  as  the 
carpenter  and  general  master  mechanic  of  the 
plantation,  and  Warren  addressed  him : 

"  Tom,"  he  said,  "  that  gate  across  the  road 
back  there  is  in  a  bad  way.  The  top  hinge  has 
three  of  its  screw-holes  rusted  out,  and  it  is  cracked 
all  the  way  across.  The  gate  will  be  sagging 
presently  and  difficult  to  open  or  shut.  I  want 
you  to  fix  it  at  once.  If  you'll  look  in  the  passage- 
way of  the  big  corn- crib  —  about  half-way  back, 
on  the  third  log  from  the  top,  —  you'll  find  a  good 


THE  BIRTH  OF  ACQUAINTANCE  155 

hinge  that  has  never  been  used.  Put  it  on  the 
gate  and  don't  use  screws  in  doing  so.  Use 
wrought  nails  —  the  biggest  you've  got  —  and 
clinch  them  thoroughly." 

The  man  answered  sullenly: 

"  Yes,  sir." 

Thereupon  Rhett  called  back  to  him : 

"  I'll  inspect  the  work  after  it  is  done.  See 
that  it  is  well  done." 

A  few  minutes  later  the  girl  asked: 

"Why  did  you  do  that?" 

"Why  did  I  do  what?" 

"  Why  did  you  call  back  at  him  in  that  way, 
saying  you  would  inspect  the  work?" 

"  Oh,  I  see,"  he  answered,  with  a  little  laugh. 
"  Well,  Tom  knows  he  ought  to  have  discovered 
and  remedied  the  condition  of  that  gate  long  ago. 
He  knows  he  is  under  my  censure  for  not  having 
done  so,  and  he  resents  it.  If  I  hadn't  warned 
him  that  I  would  inspect  his  work  he  would  have 
done  it  in  a  fashion  to  defeat  my  purpose.  You 
see  the  negroes  on  this  plantation  are  beginning 
to  resent  my  coming.  They  have  had  a  good,  easy, 
indolent  time  of  it,  and  my  coming  has  made  an 


156    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

end  of  all  that.  I  am  insisting  that  they  shall  earn 
their  wages,  and  that  seems  to  them  a  cruel  hard- 
ship. They  resent  it  as  an  injustice,  a  wrong, 
an  invasion  of  their  rights,  a  trespass  upon  their 
liberty,  or,  as  they  call  it,  their  freedom.  They 
are  planning  resistance,  and  they  don't  know  how 
to  resist.  Tom  doesn't  want  to  put  that  hinge  on 
the  gate,  — not  because  of  the  little  work  involved, 
but  because  I  have  ordered  it.  If  he  dared,  he 
would  so  put  it  on  as  to  defeat  my  purpose.  He 
would  set  it  so  that  the  gate  would  sag  and  be 
hard  to  open  and  shut  —  the  very  thing  I  wish 
to  avoid.  But  now  that  I  have  warned  him  that 
I  will  inspect  his  work,  he  will  not  dare  do  that." 

Hazel  made  no  reply  for  a  time.  After  awhile 
she  said: 

"  It  seems  to  me  very  wonderful." 

"What  does?" 

"  Why,  the  way  in  which  you  see  things.  When 
we  met  that  chap  on  the  mule,  back  there,  your 
mind  was  certainly  upon  something  else,  but  you 
instantly  observed  that  the  mule  had  not  been 
curried  and  that  its  hollow  flanks  indicated  a  want 
of  water." 


THE  BIRTH  OF  ACQUAINTANCE  157 

"  All  that,"  he  replied,  "  was  obvious  enough. 
I  must  have  been  blind  not  to  see  it  at  a 
glance." 

"  Perhaps  so.  But  how  on  earth  did  you  see 
the  top  hinge  of  that  gate,  and  count  the  broken 
screw- holes,  or  whatever  they  were,  while  you 
were  busily  engaged  forcing  Dolly  up  to  the  latch 
and  at  the  same  time  carrying  on  a  conversation 
with  me  about  a  matter  that  required  very  careful 
thought?  And  again  how  came  you  to  know 
precisely  where  those  rails  were,  and  precisely 
where  that  hinge  was,  and  all  the  rest  of  it  ?  It 
seems  to  me  very  wonderful." 

"  I  think  perhaps  I  understand  that,"  he 
replied.  "  And  yet  it  seems  simple  enough.  In 
my  profession  everything  depends  upon  the 
engineer's  alert  observation.  A  weak  spot  unob- 
served anywhere  may  cost  scores  or  even  hun- 
dreds of  human  lives.  I  remember  once  observ- 
ing a  very  little  sipe  of  water  from  above,  when  I 
was  constructing  a  tunnel  under  a  stream.  I 
saw  instantly  that  there  was  a  dangerously  weak 
point  in  construction,  and  tracing  it  to  its  source 
I  saw  that  there  was  a  pillar  out  of  plumb  because 


158    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

of  a  defective  foundation.  An  enormous  weight 
—  a  weight  that  it  would  not  be  worth  while  to 
express  to  you  in  figures  —  rested  upon  that 
pillar,  which  was  in  danger  of  giving  way  at  any 
moment.  If  it  had  given  way,  nearly  a  hundred 
men  at  work  in  that  hole  would  have  perished." 

"  What  did  you  do  ?  "  asked  the  girl,  nearly 
choking  with  emotion. 

"  I  ordered  the  men  to  run  for  their  lives." 

"And  you  ran,  too,  of  course?" 

"  No,  of  course  not.  It  was  my  duty  to  stay 
there,  to  inspect,  to  devise  a  remedy.  You  see 
the  threatened  collapse,  if  it  had  occurred,  would 
have  cost  my  employers  a  million  dollars  or 
more." 

"  Let's  gallop  our  horses !  "  said  the  girl  ex- 
citedly, and  the  next  half-mile  was  quickly  covered. 
When  the  horses  settled  down  to  a  dog- trot  again, 
which  presently  lapsed  into  a  walk,  Hazel  turned 
her  face  full  upon  her  escort  and  said: 

11  Will  it  be  an  impertinence  if  I  beg  you  to  tell 
me  the  rest  of  that  story?  " 

"  Oh,  there  isn't  any  story  to  tell.  I  only  men- 
tioned the  incident  to  explain  why  a  man  of  my 


THE  BIRTH  OF  ACQUAINTANCE  159 

profession  must  cultivate  habits  of  quick  observa- 
tion." 

"  Yes,  I  understand  that.  But  what  did  you 
do  ?  How  long  did  you  remain  there  ?  And  what 
happened  afterwards?  I  simply  must  know  the 
sequel  to  the  story." 

Rhett  smiled,  but  did  not  laugh.  He  under- 
stood and  profoundly  respected  the  girl's  excited 
enthusiasm.  In  a  placid  voice,  he  answered : 

"  I  suppose  I  stayed  there  for  three  or  four 
hours.  I  didn't  time  it,  but  I  remember  the 
measurements  1  had  to  take  and  the  calculations 
I  had  to  make,  and  so  I  think  it  must  have  taken 
me  three  or  four  hours  to  plan  the  work  of  recon- 
struction." 

"  But  what  did  you  do  then  ?  "  asked  the  girl 
in  a  tone  so  eager  that  it  seemed  almost  angry. 

"  Why,  I  went  out  to  the  mouth  of  the  bore, 
ordered  the  tools  and  materials  needed,  and  called 
for  volunteers  to  do  the  work  of  safeguarding. 
I  could  not  order  any  man  to  put  his  life  in  such 
danger,  of  course." 

"  And  did  any  of  them  volunteer?  " 

"  Yes,  every  man  of  them.     There  wasn't  a 


160     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

coward  among  them.  There  rarely  is  a  coward 
among  the  men  who  do  the  world's  work  in 
America." 

"  And  so  you  took  them  all  back  ?  " 

"  No ;  only  ten  of  them.  It  was  not  necessary 
to  risk  the  lives  of  more." 

"  Let's  gallop  again !  "  she  said,  and  at  the 
end  of  the  gallop  she  turned  to  him  appealingly 
and  pleaded: 

"  Let's  go  home  now !  " 

When  she  and  Kate  went  above  stairs  to  change 
their  gowns  the  turned  to  her  friend  with  passion 
and  said : 

"  Kate,  there  are  heroes  in  this  world  who  never 
heard  a  bullet  whistle,  or  faced  a  cannon  fire !  " 

"  I  suppose  there  are,"  said  Kate,  placidly. 
"  Diana,  won't  you  come  here  and  unhook  this 
thing?  I've  got  it  caught  in  something." 


XI 

MEN,  WOMEN,  AND  GENIUS 

AFTER  a  month  or  so,  there  came  certain 
evenings  when  Charley  Danforth's  some- 
what neglected  professional  engagements 
peremptorily  forbade  him  to  pass  the  time  at 
Mannamac.    He  had  clients  to  see  at  his  office. 
He  had  consultations  to  attend  in  Richmond. 
He  had  papers  of  importance  to  draw.    Whatever 
the    reason,    he    reluctantly   stayed    away   from 
Mannamac  now  and  then,  and  the  reluctance 
was  very  real. 

On  such  evenings  Kate  was  apt  to  have  a 
headache,  whether  consequently  or  merely  coin- 
cidently,  both  Rhett  and  Hazel  were  too  polite 
even  to  conjecture.  The  not  unpleasing  result 
was  that  about  twice  a  week  there  was  a  long 
tete-a-tete  conversation  between  Rhett  and  the 
young  woman. 

On  one  of  these  occasions  he  said  to  her: 
161 


i62    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  You  haven't  yet  painted  Dolly  Varden. 
Doesn't  she  please  you  ?  " 

"  Yes,  she  pleases  me  very  much  —  so  much 
that  I'm  going  to  ask  you  to  let  me  try  to  ride  her 
soon." 

"  You  shall  do  that,  if  you  think  you  can  man- 
age her,  and  I'll  be  there  to  help  keep  her  in  sub- 
jection. But  why  haven't  you  painted  the  pic- 
ture? The  sketch  seemed  to  me  excellent." 

"  I've  given  it  up,"  she  answered,  "  because 
I  really  have  no  capacity.  You  see,  a  picture  of 
the  mare  without  her  rider  would  look  just  like 
Dolly  or  any  other  mare.  The  differences  would 
all  be  in  the  pigments.  She  should  be  painted 
with  you  on  her  back,  if  painted  at  all.  I  realized 
that  on  that  first  morning,  out  there  at  the  stable. 
Then  I  tried  to  paint  the  picture  that  way,  and 
failed  miserably,  as  I  always  do  when  I  try  to 
paint  real  pictures." 

"  But,  —  I  don't  understand." 

"  Why,  you  see,  Mr.  Rhett,  I  have  no  real 
ability.  I  have  only  a  certain  technical  facility. 
When  a  proud  horse-owner  wants  a  portrait  of 
his  animal,  I  can  produce  it  for  him.  I  can  draw 


MEN,  WOMEN,  AND  GENIUS     163 

the  form  correctly,  and  reproduce  every  detail 
of  color  and  of  light  or  shade.  But  such  things 
aren't  pictures.  The  only  horse  pictures  I  ever 
painted  —  the  only  ones  I  mean  that  are  anything 
more  than  mere  portraits  —  are  hanging  in  bar- 
rooms." 

She  said  this  with  a  disgust  that  had  a  trace 
of  bitterness  in  it. 

Very  gently  he  asked : 

"  Would  you  mind  telling  me  how  that  comes 
about?  Don't  say  a  word  if  the  subject  dis- 
tresses you." 

"  I  have  wanted  to  tell  you  about  this,"  she 
said.  "  You  know  Kate  and  her  ways.  She  has 
several  times  told  you  that  I'm  a  *  genius '  and 
can  do  anything.  I  have  tried  to  hush  her,  but 
she  persists,  and  her  persistence  puts  me  in  a 
false  position.  It  makes  me  seem  to  pose  as  a 
.gifted  woman,  when  I  am  nothing  of  the  sort,  and 
I  am  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  set  myself  right 
in  your  eyes.  Of  course  there  are  no  real  geniuses 
among  women  — there  never  was  one,  there 
never  will  be  one,  and  to  say  truth  there  never 
.ought  to  be  one." 


1 64     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  I  am  not  so  sure  of  that,"  he  answered.  "  I 
have  never  thought  the  matter  out.  However, 
that  will  keep  till  another  time.  At  present  I 
want  to  hear  about  yourself  —  whatever  you  are 
disposed  to  tell  me." 

"  The  other  subject  is  much  the  more  inter- 
esting," she  replied.  "  Or  at  any  rate  it  ought  to 
be,  and  would  be,  if  it  were  not  that  personal 
gossip  is,  after  all,  the  one  thing  of  chief  interest 
to  human  beings." 

"  Just  how  do  you  mean  ?  I  am  interested  in 
that  suggestion." 

"  Why,  you  have  been  a  guest  at  many  dinner- 
parties, of  course,  and  you  have  attended  many 
receptions.  You  must  have  observed  that  nine- 
tenths  of  the  conversation  at  such  functions  is 
personal  —  talk  about  other  people  —  in  short, 
gossip,  whether  of  a  pleasant  sort  or  the  reverse. 
Indeed,  as  you  very  well  know,  it  is  considered 
*  bad  form '  to  indulge  in  any  other  sort  of  conver- 
sation on  such  occasions.  I  suppose  that  is 
because  if  you  should  happen  to  say  anything 
intelligent,  anything  thoughtful,  anything  really 
worth  saying,  your  interlocutor  might  not  be  able 


MEN,  WOMEN,  AND  GENIUS    165 

to  respond  intelligently.  That  would  expose  his 
or  her  ignorance  or  lack  of  brains,  uncomfortably. 
Anyhow,  the  talk  upon  such  occasions  is  all 
chatter,  chatter,  chatter,  and  mostly  it  is  personal. 
We  discuss  Miss  X's  peculiar  lack  of  color  sense, 
as  illustrated  by  her  gowns,  or  we  talk  of  the  lack 
of  sympathy  in  Miss  Y's  voice  when  she  sings 
with  exquisite  correctness,  or  we  discuss  Miss 
Z's  irrepressible  tendency  to  giggle  on  all  occa- 
sions, and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the  chapter.  It  is 
all  personal,  and  mainly  it  is  all  carpingly  cen- 
sorious." 

"  Yes.  And  that  is  why  so  many  men  of  brains 
withdraw  themselves  from  social  functions  and 
always  have  a  headache  or  a  severe  cold  or  a 
'  previous  engagement '  when  such  functions  are 
on.  That  is  why  we  have  no  salons  in  which 
brilliant  men  and  women  meet  to  discuss  and  to 
influence  literature,  art,  and  public  affairs.  The 
majority  of  the  company  in  every  case  is  stupid 
and  uninformed.  Upon  humane  considerations 
society  decrees  that  serious  subjects  shall  not  be 
mentioned  upon  social  occasions  lest  the  vacuous, 
the  uninformed,  the  thoughtless,  be  put  at  a 


1 66    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

disadvantage.  But  I  want  to  hear  about  the  horse 
pictures." 

"  Oh,  it  is  a  simple  story.  I  have  painted  many 
stupid  portraits  of  horses  —  just  about  as  valu- 
able or  as  valueless  as  so  many  colored  photo- 
graphs might  be.  They  are  cherished  by  the 
owners  of  the  horses,  just  as  family  photographs 
are  kept  in  an  album  or  framed  and  hung  upon  the 
walls.  Twice  in  my  life  I  have  made  real  pictures 
of  horses  —  twice  only  —  because  only  twice  have 
I  had  the  opportunity.  One  of  those  pictures  is 
called  '  The  Finish.'  It  represents  the  head  and 
fore-quarters  only  of  a  race-horse,  coming  directly 
toward  you  as  he  crosses  the  line  a  winner.  The 
face  of  the  horse  and  the  face  of  his  rider  con- 
stitute the  picture.  You  will  believe  that  the 
painting  of  it  interested  me  when  I  tell  you  that 
in  order  to  make  my  studies  of  those  intensely 
eager  faces  of  winning  horses  and  winning  men, 
I  fifteen  times  placed  myself  just  in  front  of  the 
finish  wire  and  depended  upon  my  agility  and  my 
good  luck  to  save  my  life. 

"  The  other  picture  is  called  '  Afterwards.' 
It  is  the  picture  of  a  noble  trotter  grazing 


MEN,  WOMEN,  AND  GENIUS      167 

luxuriously  in  a  blue  grass  pasture,  after  his 
owner  has  finally  withdrawn  him  from  the 
turf  as  a  horse  that  has  done  his  work  well. 
I  tried  to  put  into  it  some  suggestion  of  the  fiery 
vigor  still  remaining  in  the  horse's  soul,  —  the 
grit,  the  spirit,  the  self-confidence,  and  the  readi- 
ness to  try  conclusions  upon  fair  terms,  —  to- 
gether with  some  suggestion  of  the  noble  animal's 
enjoyment  of  his  well-earned  rest  there  in  the  blue 
grass  pasture.  I  painted  both  pictures  lovingly. 
I  painted  them  both  upon  commission  from  a 
dealer  in  pictures,  and  he  sold  both  to  be  hung  in 
a  sumptuous  barroom  where  horsemen,  book- 
makers, and  *  sporting  men '  congregate.  Of 
course  I  can  never  see  either  of  them 
again." 

."  Of  course  not,"  he  answered,  "  and  it  seems  a 
pity.  But  I  should  like  to  see  them  myself .  Would 
you  mind  telling  me  where  to  find  them  the  next 
time  I  go  to  New  York?  I  don't  mind  visiting 
barrooms." 

She  told  him. 

Early  the  next  morning  he  sent  a  chap  to  the 
railroad  station,  to  send  off  a  telegram.  Ten  days 


1 68    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

later  the  two  pictures  were  hung  upon  the  walls 
of  the  great  hall  at  Mannamac. 

That,  however,  occurred  ten  days  later.  To- 
night the  conversation  went  on  with  no  suggestion 
in  it  of  the  purpose  thus  later  fulfilled. 

"  I  want  to  bring  you  back,"  he  said  presently, 
"  to  what  you  were  saying  about  women — that 
there  has  never  been  a  really  great  genius  among 
women.  Here  comes  Kate  to  help  us  discuss  the 
subject." 

"  Oh,  that's  all  nonsense,"  said  Kate,  cuddling 
herself  into  a  corner.  The  spacious  hall  and  porch 
chairs  did  not  appeal  to  the  little  woman.  She 
preferred  a  door-step,  a  nook,  a  corner,  or,  if  none 
of  these  was  available,  she  preferred  to  collect  her- 
self, as  it  were,  Turkish  fashion,  upon  the  floor. 
"  Why,  Hazel,  you're  a  great  genius  yourself. 
You  paint  lovely  pictures,  and  you're  pretty,  and 
you  talk  charmingly.  Besides  that  you  can  do 
exquisite  wood-carving,  you  can  sing,  you  can 
play  the  mandolin  divinely,  and  I  never  in  my 
life  saw  apple  dumplings  that  equalled  those  you 
made  for  me  a  little  while  ago.  By  the  way,  you 
are  to  make  some  more  to-morrow.  And  when  are 


MEN,  WOMEN,  AND  GENIUS      169 

mince  pies  in  season,  anyhow?  I  want  you  to 
try  your  hand  at  them.  And  you  know  you  are 
the  only  woman  I  ever  saw  who  knew  how  to 
carve  thin  slices  from  a  ham.  That  reminds  me, 
I  must  tell  Henry  to  sharpen  two  or  three  of  the 
case-knives  that  have  been  worn  thin  by  scouring. 
Don't  you  agree  with  me,  Warren,  that  Hazel  is  a 
genius  and  that  there's  nothing  so  good  to  slice  a 
cold  ham  with  as  a  case-knife  that  has  been  worn 
down  by  scouring  till  it's  a  mere  film  of 
steel?" 

"  My  dear  Kate,  I  make  it  a  rigid  rule  of  con- 
duct to  agree  with  you  in  all  your  opinions, 
whether  they  relate  to  genius  or  to  ham,  whether 
they  concern  themselves  with  creation  or  with 
cutlery." 

"  Now  you  are  laughing  at  me.  I  know  by 
your  way  of  putting  it.  But  I  don't  mind. 
You  see,  Hazel,  I  got  used  to  Warren  when  he  and 
I  were  boy  and  girl  together.  But  go  on  and  tell 
him  what  you  were  going  to." 

"  Oh,  it  was  nothing.  I  only  said  that  there 
never  had  been  a  really  great  genius  among 
women,  and  I  think  that  is  true." 


1 7o    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  There  was  Sappho,  you  know,"  suggested 
Rhett. 

"  But  was  she  a  really  great  poet  ?  If  so,  why 
is  it  that  her  work  has  not  survived  ?  Practically 
all  that  we  know  about  it  is  from  hearsay  —  upon 
the  testimony  of  the  critics  of  her  time,  and  they 
were  confessedly  her  personal  admirers,  her 
lovers,  in  fact.  If  her  poetry  was  really  great, 
why  has  none  of  it  survived  as  the  verses  of  Homer 
and  ^Eschylus  and  the  other  Greek  poets  have 
done?" 

"There  was  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning," 
suggested  Rhett. 

"  She  was  a  woman  of  delightful  personality," 
answered  the  girl;  "she  was  the  heroine  of  a 
tenderly  interesting  romance ;  she  was  the  wife  of 
a  great  poet ;  and  she  was  undoubtedly  a  woman 
of  rare  gifts.  But  was  she  really  a  woman  of 
genius?  As  a  poet,  would  you  think  of  classing 
her  with  Wordsworth,  Coleridge,  Scott,  Keats, 
Byron,  or  Shelley  ?  Is  there  a  poem  of  hers  —  or 
a  stanza  or  a  line  — that  lingers  in  your  memory 
so  that  you  are  irresistibly  compelled  to  recall  it 
when  her  name  is  mentioned  ?  Is  there  anything 


MEN,  WOMEN,  AND  GENIUS      171 

in  her  work  that  sticks  to  you  in  the  same  way  that 
Bayard  Taylor's  '  Song  of  the  Camp  '  does,  or 
in  the  same  way  that  Owen  Meredith's  *  Aux 
Italiens '  does  ?  I  should  not  class  either  Owen 
Meredith  or  Bayard  Taylor  with  Byron,  Shelley, 
Keats,  Wordsworth,  Scott,  and  Coleridge,  but  at 
any  rate  each  of  them  has  written  something  that 
so  strongly  appeals  to  the  mind  as  to  become  an 
integral,  structural  part  of  one's  thinking.  I 
cannot  recall  that  Mrs.  Browning  ever  did  that. 
That  she  was  a  poet,  I  admit,  but  that  she  was  a 
great  poet,  no.  So  far  as  I  can  discover  no  woman 
has  won  that  place  —  none  has  ever  risen  to  the 
highest  levels  of  achievement,  though  many  have 
attained  a  creditably  high  level." 

"  I  believe  you  are  right,"  said  Rhett,  medita- 
tively, "  and  it  seems  very  strange." 

"Why  so  strange?" 

"  Why,  because  poetry  is  the  one  art  in  which 
we  should  naturally  expect  women  to  excel. 
With  their  exalted  sensitiveness,  and  with  their 
extreme  inclination  to  sentiment,  it  would  seem 
that  they  ought  to  excel  men  in  poetry  and 
romance  and  painting." 


172    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  It  is  your  gallantry,  Mr.  Rhett,  that  suggests 
that,"  said  Hazel. 

"  I  do  not  think  so.  But  it  may  perhaps  be 
my  gallantry  —  supplementing  whatever  logical 
faculty  I  have  — which  suggests  an  explanation." 

"Good!  good!"  exclaimed  Kate.  "What  is 
the  explanation  ?  " 

"  Why,  that  women  are  themselves  poems  — 
in  their  personality  and  in  their  lives.  They 
stand  always  too  close  to  poetic  things  to  see 
them  in  perspective  as  men  may  do.  Now  that  I 
think  of  it  most  of  the  men  who  have  written  great 
poetry  led  lives  so  far  removed  from  the  finer 
things  as  to  give  them  a  very  full  perspective 
view  indeed.  Scott  was  a  publisher,  Milton  a 
secretary,  Byron  a  drunkard,  Shelley  a  libertine, 
and  Shakespeare  and  Marlowe  and  Ben  Jonson, 
so  far  as  we  know  anything  about  them,  were 
habitue's  of  tavern  tap- rooms,  and  perhaps 
brawlers  there  —  Marlowe  died  in  a  tavern 
brawl,  you  know.  All  of  them  stood  far  enough 
away  from  the  finer  sentiments  to  admire  them 
unstintedly  —  far  enough  away  to  reflect  them  in 
full  perspective  in  the  mirrors  of  their  minds." 


MEN,  WOMEN,  AND  GENIUS       173 

Kate  clapped  her  little  hands,  with  a  joyous 
laugh,  and  said: 

"  Now  I'm  satisfied,  Warren.  I've  been 
thinking  that  work  and  the  world  had  changed 
you,  but  they  haven't.  You're  the  same  dear, 
romantic,  chivalric  boy  you  were  when  you  used 
to  take  me  fishing  down  at  the  creek.  Hazel,  he 
was  fond  of  fishing  and  not  at  all  fond  of  me,  I 
think.  Yet  if  I  wanted  to  go  with  him  he  always 
let  me,  and  he  spoiled  his  own  fishing  for  my  sake. 
He  baited  my  hook  and  took  the  fish  off,  whenever 
I  caught  one,  to  the  neglect  of  his  own  line.  I 
remember  once  he  was  playing  a  splendidly  big 
and  gamey  trout  when  I  lifted  a  little  gudgeon 
out  of  the  water.  He  instantly  threw  his  rod  down, 
abandoning  his  fish,  and  came  to  my  assistance. 
After  all,  I  suppose  that  is  a  part  of  the  explana- 
tion about  men  and  women  doing  things.  Men 
like  to  do  things  for  women  and  women  like 
to  let  them." 

Hazel  rose  from  her  seat  and  moved  toward 
the  stairs,  saying: 

"  I  should  have  expected  precisely  that  from 
Mr.  Rhett,  Kate,  but  why  did  you  permit  it? 


i74     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

Why  didn't  you  let  the  gudgeon  get  away  and 
leave  him  to  play  his  trout  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  it's  because  I  am  a  woman," 
answered  Kate,  as  the  two  said  good  night  to 
Rhett  and  started  up  the  stairs. 


XII 

A  REVELATION   FROM   KATE 

WARREN  RHETT  continued  to  press 
his  experiment  with  negro  labor.  Its 
success  was  not  entirely  satisfactory. 
He  had  two  classes  of  farm  hands  to  deal  with 
—  those  who  rented  little  patches,  under  contract 
to  give  up  a  prescribed  portion  of  their  crops  in 
payment  of  rent,  and  those  who  were  hired  by 
the  year  to  till  the  rest  of  the  plantation.  With 
the  first  class  he  found  that  he  could  do  nothing 
whatever.  Their  standard  of  living  was  exceed- 
ingly low.  All  that  they  wanted  was  enough  to 
fill  their  stomachs  with,  and  they  found  it  easy  to 
get  that  in  great  part  by  irregular  means,  not 
nominated  in  the  bond.  It  was  not  the  custom 
for  the  landowner  to  take  any  part  of  anything 
except  the  "  selling  crops,"  wheat,  corn,  and 
tobacco.  They  grew  little  gardens  in  which  he 


i76    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

had  no  interest.  Even  in  their  turnip  fields, 
their  sweet  potato  beds,  their  watermelon  patches, 
and  the  like,  the  owner  was  supposed  to  have  no 
share,  and  they  grew  little  else  than  these.  For 
the  rest  there  was  game  in  the  woods,  and  it  was 
always  easy  to  supplement  that  source  of  meat 
supply  by  the  surreptitious  killing  of  a  pig  or  a 
sheep  now  and  then  —  a  pig  or  a  sheep  that  be- 
longed to  some  one  else  —  or  by  a  raid  upon  the 
poultry  yards. 

The  net  result  was  that  the  rented  lands  brought 
almost  no  return  to  their  owner,  and  they  were  in 
no  way  improved  by  a  culture  that  took  no  account 
of  the  future.  The  negroes  renting  them  not  only 
planted  no  orchards,  no  grape-vines,  no  currant 
or  gooseberry  bushes  that  might  yield  fruit  for 
ten  or  twenty  years  to  come ;  they  neglected  even 
to  put  in  asparagus  and  horseradish  beds  and 
the  like,  because  they  were  not  sure  they  should 
retain  their  tenure  of  the  land  long  enough  to 
reap  a  benefit  from  such  labor  —  and  addition- 
ally because  providence  of  the  future  was  not  a 
part  of  their  nature.  They  might  get  a  chance 
to  go  to  some  town  and  live  off  the  work  of  their 


A  REVELATION  FROM  KATE      177 

womenkind,  and  by  the  doing  of  odd  jobs  of 
their  own.  Every  one  of  them  held  that  hope  as 
a  cherished  ambition  —  a  dream  of  luxurious 
existence  that  might  some  day  be  fulfilled.  Why 
then  should  they  make  asparagus  beds,  or  plant 
horseradish  or  gooseberry  or  currant  bushes,  or 
do  any  other  thing  which  required  a  year  or  two 
of  preliminary  growth  before  yielding  a  return  of 
any  kind?  Why  should  they  spread  upon  the 
land  that  they  might  or  might  not  want  to  culti- 
vate next  year,  the  scrapings  of  their  mule  stables, 
which  they  could  sell  to  the  Yankee  or  the  foreign 
truck  farmers  round  about  for  precious  dollars? 
Why  should  they  pay  out  good  money  for  hens, 
turkeys,  and  other  fowls,  and  breed  poultry  for 
themselves,  when  there  were  the  easily  accessible 
poultry  yards  of  the  plantation  owners  always 
"  on  tap  "  as  it  were  ?  Why  should  they  trouble 
themselves  to  feed  hogs  when  the  plantation 
owner's  hogs  were  running  wild  in  woods  so  dense 
that  it  really  required  no  great  ingenuity  to  secure 
a  shoat  whenever,  one  was  wanted  ?  In  brief,  why 
should  they  weary  themselves  with  work  when 
they  could  satisfy  all  their  wants  without  work? 


178    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

With  the  other  class  —  the  hired  hands  who 
were  expected  to  cultivate  the  greater  part  of  the 
plantation  —  Warren  Rhett  found  it  somewhat 
easier  to  deal,  but  the  results  were  not  much  more 
satisfactory.  These  hired  negroes  had  put  in  less 
than  half  a  crop  and  they  had  grievously  neglected 
even  that.  By  dint  of  personal  supervision  and 
ceaseless  inspection,  he  was  able  to  make  them 
amend  these  conditions  somewhat.  Late  as  it 
was  in  the  summer,  there  were  crops  that  might 
still  be  planted  with  a  reasonable  prospect  that  in 
that  favorable  climate  they  could  be  brought  to 
maturity.  There  were  excellent  facilities  at  hand 
for  marketing  such  crops  in  the  Northern  cities, 
and  Rhett  insisted  that  every  acre  available  for 
their  cultivation  should  be  deeply  ploughed  and 
promptly  seeded. 

It  wasn't  easy  to  get  this  done  in  face  of  the 
obstinate  determination  of  the  negroes  to  do  as 
little  work  as  possible,  and  more  especially  to 
resent  and  resist  any  and  every  assertion  of 
authority  over  them,  as  a  trespass  upon  their 
liberty,  —  the  nature  of  which  they  utterly  failed 
to  understand. 


A  REVELATION  FROM  KATE      179 

But  by  diligent  insistence,  and  still  more  by 
reason  of  his  gift  of  commanding  men  and  com- 
pelling their  obedience,  Warren  Rhett  got  it  done 
—  in  some  degree  at  least. 

Meanwhile  he  was  learning  a  good  deal  with 
regard  to  the  problem  he  was  working  over,  and 
what  he  learned  came  out  in  conversation  one 
evening,  when  the  guests  at  Mannamac  included 
a  number  of  strangers  —  newcomers,  unfamiliar 
with  the  customs  of  the  old  regime  in  the  Old 
Dominion,  but  in  their  own  various  ways  ac- 
quainted with  existing  conditions. 

All  of  these  had  been  invited  — after  the 
old  Virginian  custom  —  to  "  dine  and  spend 
the  evening."  To  some  of  the  persons  whose 
names  were  on  the  invitation  list  that  War- 
ren submitted  to  Kate,  Kate  had  objected.  They 
were  not  "  recognized  people,"  she  urged. 

"  But  my  dear  Kate,"  Warren  answered, 
"  they  will  be  '  recognized  persons '  after  they 
have  once  dined  at  Mannamac  upon  your  invita- 
tion. By  the  way,  you  ought  to  pay  some  heed 
to  the  distinction  between  the  words  '  persons ' 
and  '  people.'  " 


i8o    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  Oh,  whatever  you  want  you  can  have,  at 
Mannamac,  you  know.  If  you  want  these 
—  persons  —  is  that  right  ?  —  they  shall  be  in- 
vited most  cordially.  And  I  dare  say  they're 
not  so  terrible,  after  all.  You  think,  don't  you, 
Warren,  that  most  of  them  eat  with  their  forks 
and  know  what  a  napkin  is  for?  " 

"  My  dear  Kate,  you  ought  to  know  me  well 
enough  to  know  that  I  would  never  ask  you  to 
invite  anybody  to  your  dinner-table  who  was  not 
really  a  gentleman  or  a  gentlewoman.  I  have 
invited  a  very  distinguished  negro  educator  of 
negroes  to  join  us  —  " 

"  Not  at  dinner !  "  she  exclaimed  in  genuine 
alarm. 

"  No,  not  at  dinner  and  not  at  supper.  I  do 
not  recognize  the  social  equality  of  the  negro,  any 
more  than  you  do.  But  this  man  has  some  in- 
formation that  I  want  to  get  at,  and  he  is  alto- 
gether a  gentleman  in  his  way  —  so  much  a 
gentleman  that  he  wouldn't  think  of  expecting  or 
accepting  an  invitation  to  dine  or  sup  at  your 
house.  I  have  asked  him  to  join  us  after  supper, 
in  order  that  he  may  tell  me  some  of  his  experi- 


A  REVELATION  FROM  KATE      181 

ences  and  give  me  some  of  his  opinions.  I  have 
been  perfectly  frank  with  him  and  he  has  frankly 
accepted  the  situation.  He  will  be  here  to  speak 
for  his  race,  when  I  ask  him  to  do  so,  and  to  give 
us  the  results  of  his  efforts  to  educate  his  fellow 
negroes.  He'll  come  to  us,  in  the  porch  of  course. 
He  is  an  old  friend  of  mine.  He  and  I  were  boys 
together,  his  '  mammy  '  having  been  the  cook  at 
Mannamac.  And  years  ago,  when  I  found  that 
he  had  so  much  more  common  and  uncommon 
sense  than  any  of  his  fellows  had,  I  myself  sent 
him  north  to  be  educated.  Dollars  were  difficult 
things  for  me  to  get  in  those  days,  and  so  I'm 
afraid  he  had  to  put  up  with  some  privations,  but 
at  any  rate  he  got  his  education  and  he  is  to-day 
doing  a  notably  good  work  among  the  negroes." 

"Who  is  he?" 

"Bob,"  answered  the  man;  "better  known 
now  as  the  Rev.  Robert  Ryman  D.D.,  but  you 
remember  him  as  Bob,  who  used  to  play  marbles 
with  me  when  we  were  boys  together  and  who  used 
to  bring  you  buttermilk  when  you  were  thirsty." 

"  Oh,  if  it's  only  Bob,  of  course  it's  all  right. 
I  didn't  understand  you." 


i82    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  Yes,  it's  only  Bob,"  he  answered,  "  but  you 
must  bear  in  mind  that  Bob  is  a  graduate  of 
Harvard  College  and  on  his  own  account  the  master 
of  a  school  for  negroes  that  is  doing  a  really  great 
work." 

"  Why,  I  thought  you  didn't  believe  in  the 
education  of  negroes?" 

"  I  do  not  believe  in  their  miseducation,  Kate 
—  but  in  their  education,  yes,  most  heartily. 
And  he  is  of  one  mind  with  me  about  that.  You 
shall  see  when  we  come  to  discuss  the  matter." 

"  Then  you  plan  to  —  " 

"  I'm  planning  nothing,  Kate,  except  to  have 
a  lot  of  pleasant  people  to  dinner.  If  after  dinner 
we  get  to  discussing  the  question  of  the  future  of 
the  negroes,  it  will  be  no  more  than  what  we 
generally  do  after  dinner  in  Virginia." 

"  That  is  all  right,"  said  Kate,  "  and  I  hope 
Hazel  will  wear  the  new  gown  I've  been  making 
frr  her  out  of  two  old  ones.  It  is  just  lovely, 
and  you  know  how  charmingly  she  sings,  if  they'll 
only  be  polite  enough  to  give  her  a  chance.  I 
think  you  are  the  one  to  see  to  that,  Warren,  and 
really  you  do  look  so  handsome  in  white  ducks! 


A  REVELATION  FROM  KATE      183 

Ought  I  to  serve  ice-cream  with  supper  or  after- 
wards in  the  porch  if  it  doesn't  rain?  And  if  it 
does  it  won't  make  any  difference  except  —  ex- 
cept —  what  was  I  going  to  say,  Warren  ?  I 
declare  I've  forgotten." 

"  So  have  I,  Kate.  Don't  let's  bother  to  re- 
member. You  must  '  get  busy  '  with  the  notes  of 
invitation.  Hazel  will  help  you,  I've  no  doubt." 

"  So  it  has  reached  that  stage,  has  it?  "  broke 
in  Kate.  "  You're  thinking  of  her  by  her  first 
name  ?  I  was  afraid  of  that.  But  I  gave  you  fair 
warning  at  the  outset  that  you  mustn't  do  that." 

"  Mustn't  do  what,  Kate?  " 

"  Mustn't  fall  in  love  with  Hazel,  of  course." 

"  But  why  not  ?  Surely  she  is  a  very  charming 
young  woman  and  a  very  lovable  one." 

"  Yes,  I  know."  Kate  said  this  slowly,  medi- 
tatively, as  if  weighing  the  words  and  carefully 
considering  those  she  should  utter  next.  After  a 
little  she  added : 

"  She's  married  already.  Her  marriage  doesn't 
amount  to  anything,  but  all  the  same  you  mustn't 
fall  in  love  with  her,  or  at  least  you  mustn'ted,  as 
I  told  you,  and  you've  gone  and  done  it  in  spite  of 


1 84    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

my  solemn  warning.  I  don't  blame  you  a  bit.  If 
I  were  a  man  I  should  fall  in  love  with  Hazel  even 
if  she  were  not  only  married  but  dead  and  buried. 
She's  the  very  noblest,  sweetest,  and  beautifullest 
woman  in  the  world.  Go  on  and  win  her,  War- 
ren. She's  worth  it,  and  you  can  do  it  if  you  are 
half  the  man  I  think  you  are.  Don't  ask  me  to 
explain.  I  have  promised  not  to  do  so,  and  I 
always  keep  my  promises  except  when  I  forget. 
Ask  Hazel." 

At  that  moment  Hazel  herself  entered  the 
dining-room,  where  the  two  had  held  their 
conference,  and  Kate  greeted  her  coming  with 
gladness. 

"  Come,  Hazel,"  she  exclaimed ;  "  Warren 
wants  me  to  invite  a  lot  of  people  to  a  dining- 
day,  and  of  course  I've  got  to  do  it.  He  has 
promised  that  you'll  help  me  with  the  invitations, 
and  of  course  you've  got  to  do  it." 

Warren  Rhett  went  away  sorrowing,  bewil- 
dered and  half-stunned  by  the  words  that  Kate 
had  so  carelessly  spoken. 


XIII 

WARREN  RHETT  STEADIES  HIS  MIND 

WARREN  RHETT  was  a  man  not  easily 
daunted  or  dismayed.  He  had  faced 
difficulties  and  dangers  of  many  kinds 
and  always  he  had  borne  himself  bravely  in  con- 
fronting them.  But  now  he  was  both  daunted 
and  dismayed.  The  situation  revealed  by  Kate's 
words  seemed  to  be  one  with  which  neither 
courage  nor  resolution,  neither  determination 
nor  desperation,  might  deal  with  any  hope  of  a 
satisfactory  outcome.  If  Hazel  Cameron  was 
already  a  married  woman  there  was  nothing  that 
even  the  most  desperate  daring  or  the  most 
persuasive  persistence  could  do.  And  yet  Kate  — 
a  typical  representative  of  social  propriety  — 
had  urged  him  to  go  on  and  win  the  woman, 
assuring  him  that  he  could  do  so.  He  simply 

could  not  understand. 

185 


i86    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

Two  thoughts  arose  in  his  mind.  One  was 
that  he  must  fathom  the  mystery  of  all  this ;  the 
other  was  that  he  must  arrange  at  once  for  his 
own  retreat  from  a  position  that  was  utterly  un- 
tenable, or  might  become  so. 

Leaving  the  two  women  in  consultation  over 
the  invitations,  he  went  to  the  stables,  mounted 
his  mare,  bade  a  negro  follow  him  on  a  mule, 
and  rode  to  the  Court-House  village,  which  was 
also  the  railroad  station. 

After  sending  off  half  a  dozen  telegrams,  the 
transmission  of  which  very  nearly  wrecked  the 
nervous  system  of  the  old  station-master,  who  was 
also  the  "  plug  operator  "  on  the  telegraph  line, 
he  wrote  a  note  and  sent  it  to  Kate  by  the  negro 
boy  who  was  to  lead  his  mare  back  to  Mannamac. 
In  it  he  wrote : 

"  HI  be  back  in  time  for  the  dinner-party 
next  Thursday.     Meantime  I  must  go  to  New 
York  to  arrange  a  business  matter  of  importance. 
Till  I  see  you  again  I  shall  be,  of  course, 
"  Sincerely  yours, 

"  WARREN  RHETT. 


RHETT  STEADIES  HIS  MIND       187 

"  P.  S.  Please  make  my  apologies  to  Miss 
Cameron,  and  bid  her  ride  Dolly  Varden  as  often 
and  as  long  as  she  likes.  w.  R." 

Then  he  took  a  train  for  New  York.  He  had 
not  so  much  as  a  hand-satchel  by  way  of  baggage, 
but  he  knew  from  frequent  experience  how  to  get 
on  without  the  conveniences  of  life.  He  could 
buy  shirts,  collars,  cuffs,  underwear,  combs, 
brushes,  and  the  like  in  New  York.  His  ward- 
robe was  at  Mannamac,  but  he  didn't  want  his 
wardrobe.  He  did  not  intend  to  visit  anybody 
or  to  accept  invitations  of  any  kind.  He  was  to 
be  in  New  York  for  purposes  of  business,  and  he 
addressed  himself  to  those  purposes. 

It  was  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  he  let 
himself  into  his  office  with  his  latch-key  —  the 
office  boy  not  having  arrived  as  yet.  By  half- 
past  seven,  when  the  office  boy  came,  he  had 
written  a  dozen  telegrams  and  had  them  ready 
for  transmission. 

When  the  office  boy  at  last  appeared  Rhett 
turned  to  him  and  asked : 

"  Will  you  kindly  tell  me  what  time  it  is  — by 


1 88    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

your  watch,  I  mean  — I  know  what  time  it  is 
by  the  clock  on  the  wall." 

"  It's  twenty-eight  minutes  of  eight,"  answered 
the  boy. 

"  Are  you  sure  your  watch  is  right  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir.  I  set  it  every  morning  by  the  electric 
observatory  clock." 

"  Then  my  watch  has  lost  two  minutes,"  said 
Rhett,  "  and  you  have  lost  half  a  dollar.  I  shall 
dock  you  that  for  being  late.  Your  hour  is  seven 
o'clock,  you  know." 

"  But  Mr.  Rhett,"  pleaded  the  boy,  "  you  see 
the  other  gentlemen  don't  get  here  as  you  do,  at 
seven  o'clock.  They're  never  here  till  eight,  and 
I  didn't  know  you  were  in  town." 

"  Well  now,  fix  it  firmly  in  your  thinking  ap- 
paratus that  I  am  always  in  town,  or  likely  to  be 
here,  and  don't  be  late  again.  I'll  forgive  you 
this  time  and  remit  the  fine.  Take  these  tele- 
grams over  to  the  Western  Union  office,  and  these 
to  the  Postal,  and  send  them  off  at  once. 
Have  them  charged  to  our  office  account  as 
usual." 

As  the  boy  went  out  a  clerk  entered.    Rhett 


RHETT  STEADIES  HIS  MIND       189 

gave  him  a  cordial  but  hasty  greeting,  and  then 
said : 

"  Will  you  please  bring  me  the  specifications 
as  to  the  African  trestles  and  the  Zambesi 
bridge?" 

"  I'm  not  sure  that  I  can  put  my  hands  on  them, 
sir.  You  see  the  firm  decided  not  to  bid  for  that 
contract." 

"  Yes,  I  know.  But  the  firm  sometimes  changes 
its  mind,  and  you  remember  my  orders,  that  every 
paper  relating  to  business  that  comes  into  this 
office  or  that  is  written  in  this  office  shall  be  filed 
and  indexed  and  preserved." 

"  Here  they  are,  sir,"  answered  the  clerk  who 
had  been  anxiously  searching.  "  But  we've 
marked  that  thing  off  our  list  of  possible  under- 
takings." 

"  Go  at  once  and  put  it  on  again." 

"  But  that's  in  another  department,  and  —  " 

"  Go  and  record  it  as  a  thing  to  be  considered. 
And  notify  the  clerk  who  should  be  here  to  make 
the  entry,  that  he  must  hereafter  present  himself 
at  the  hour  appointed,  or  hunt  another  job.  I  do 
not  trust  men  to  do  their  work  accurately  who 


i9o      LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

cannot  keep  their  watches  so  regulated  as  to 
appear  at  the  office  promptly  at  the  prescribed 
hour.  Impress  that  upon  the  mind  of  the  young 
man  in  question,  will  you?  " 

"  I  will,  of  course,  but  —  "    The  man  hesitated. 

"But  what?" 

"  Well,  you  see,  Mr.  Rhett,  Denning's  situation 
is  different  from  the  rest  of  us's ;  he's  got  a  poor 
old  mother  and  three  little  nieces  to  take  care  of  — 
they're  tiny  things  and  their  mother's  dead,  and 
Denning's  mother  has  had  a  stroke  lately,  so  he's 
got  to  get  breakfast  and  dress  the  children,  and 
make  the  old  woman  comfortable  before  he  comes 
down  and  — " 

"  That  will  do.    Do  you  write  shorthand  ?  " 

"  Yes." 

"  Then  please  take  down  this  memorandum : 
'  Mr.  Denning's  salary  is  to  be  increased  by 
twenty  per  cent.,  the  increase  to  be  charged  to  my 
personal  account.  Mr.  Denning's  hour  of  attend- 
ance at  the  office  is  extended  to  nine  o'clock,  and 
if  at  any  time  he  finds  it  necessary  to  be  late  in 
coming,  he  is  excused  in  advance.'  Communicate 
that  to  the  cashier  and  the  managing  clerk,  as  a 


RHETT  STEADIES  HIS  MIND      191 

message  from  me.  Now  will  you  let  me  have  Mr. 
Denning' s  address,  please?  " 

He  made  a  memorandum  of  the  address,  and 
then,  with  that  extraordinary  readiness  of  transi- 
tion which  made  him  seem  a  marvel  to  the  men 
in  his  employ,  he  set  to  work  to  study  the  specifica- 
tions for  the  Zambesi  bridge  and  trestle. 

After  awhile  his  two  partners — juniors  in 
every  sense  —  came  in.  A  little  later  there  began 
to  come  responses  to  his  telegrams.  Some  of 
these  had  been  addressed  to  European  houses 
and  some  to  firms,  in  different  parts  of  this  country, 
that  manufactured  steel  and  other  materials 
needed  for  this  Zambesi  bridge  and  its  approaches. 
The  latter  despatches  had  asked  two  questions,  — 
"  At  what  price  can  you  furnish  the  materials 
wanted,  and  how  soon  ?  " 

When  the  replies  were  all  in  and  Warren 
Rhett  had  carefully  studied  them,  he  said  to  his 
partners : 

"  We  can  take  that  contract  and  make  a  very 
satisfactory  profit  on  it.  The  thing  those  people 
are  most  concerned  about  is  time.  My  cablegrams 
from  English  steel  men  show  that  the  best  they 


1 92     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

can  do  is  to  furnish  the  materials  for  the  structure 
within  six  months.  We  can  do  the  whole  job  in 
six  weeks.  We'll  put  in  a  bid  on  a  basis  of  eight 
weeks,  so  as  to  give  ourselves  a  margin  of  time. 
We'll  make  our  bid  about  twice  what  theirs  is 
likely  to  be  in  price  —  or  a  little  less  for  security's 
sake — and  it  will  be  accepted  because  of  our 
superior  time  offer.  Mr.  McCarthy,"  addressing 
the  head  clerk,  "  make  up  a  bid  for  this  work. 
We  offer  to  do  all  of  it  —  concrete,  steel,  earth 
approaches,  trestles,  cross- ties  —  everything  — 
for  the  sum  named  upon  that  slip,  and  to  finish 
the  work  within  eight  weeks  after  the  contract  is 
signed.  Walter,"  addressing  one  of  his  partners, 
"  make  out  a  check  for  the  deposit  sum  they 
require,  and  have  it  certified,  so  that  McCarthy 
can  enclose  it  with  the  bid.  The  award  will  be 
made  in  London,  of  course.  It  will  take  from 
three  weeks  to  a  month  to  send  over  the  bid  and 
get  back  the  acceptance.  That  means  that  we 
have  eleven  or  twelve  weeks  in  which  to  get  ready. 
Call  a  stenographer,  please.  I'll  order  the  struc- 
tural steel  and  the  other  things  by  telegraph  at 


RHETT  STEADIES  HIS  MIND       193 

"But  Mr.  Rhett,"  interposed  one  of  the 
partners,  —  a  man  to  whom  Rhett  had  given  an 
interest  in  the  firm's  business  in  return  for  his 
services  and  without  exacting  any  tribute  on  his 
part  to  the  capital  stock,  —  "  what  if  we  shouldn't 
get  the  contract  ?  We'd  be  left  with  a  lot  of  useless 
material  on  our  hands." 

"  Not  at  all.  Structural  steel  is  always  usable 
somewhere,  and  besides,  we  shall  get  the  contract." 

"  Why  are  you  so  sure  of  that?  " 

"  Because  I  have  cabled  to  every  foreign  firm 
that  will  bid,  under  a  pretence  of  asking  for  sub- 
contracts, and  the  answers  unmistakably  indicate 
that  the  very  shortest  time  that  any  one  of  them 
will  name  is  six  months.  In  a  hurry  as  these 
people  are,  our  offer  of  eight  weeks  will  take  the 
contract,  although  our  price  is  much  higher  than 
theirs.  Now  I  want  you  fellows  to  hold  your- 
selves in  readiness  to  go  to  Africa,  either  of  you, 
at  a  moment's  notice,  to  superintend  the  work 
there.  It  is  altogether  likely  that  I  shall  go  myself, 
but  in  case  I  decide  not  to  go,  I  want  you  to  be 
ready.  Johnny,  get  me  my  hat  and  coat,  please." 

He  left  the  ofiice  as  abruptly  as  he  had  entered 


i94    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

it.  He  went  at  once  to  the  home  of  the  clerk  Den- 
ning, where  he  made  a  minute  inquiry  into  the 
condition  of  things.  Satisfied  that  nothing  more 
than  he  had  done  could  be  done,  he  took  the  next 
train  for  Richmond,  and  returned  to  Mannamac. 
It  had  been  his  purpose,  in  making  this  trip  to 
New  York,  to  steady  his  own  mind,  and  he  had 
steadied  it.  He  had  discovered  a  queer  con- 
tradiction in  Kate's  words  —  a  contradiction  that 
needed  clearing  up.  Kate  had  told  him  that 
Hazel  was  already  a  married  woman.  If  the 
matter  had  rested  there  his  own  course  of  action 
would  have  been  obvious.  He  would  not  have 
returned  to  Virginia  at  all,  but  would  have  de- 
voted himself  to  the  management  of  his  various 
undertakings.  But  Kate  had  added  something 
to  her  statement  —  something  that  he  could  not 
understand  or  in  any  wise  explain  even  con- 
jecturally.  And  Kate  had  spoken  the  words 
earnestly.  It  was  always  easy  to  know  whether 
Elate  was  in  earnest  or  not.  That  gentlewoman 
was  as  transparent  as  polished  plate  glass, 
especially  to  Warren  Rhett,  who  had  been  her 
companion  in  childhood  and  youth.  But  to  feel 


RHETT  STEADIES  HIS  MIND       195 

sure  that  Kate  had  spoken  the  words  earnestly 
was  one  thing,  and  to  extract  an  explanation  of 
them  from  Kate  was  quite  another.  That  little 
lady  was  not  good  at  explaining,  for  one  thing, 
and  for  another  she  was  scrupulously,  almost 
morbidly,  averse  to  the  revelation,  by  any  words 
of  hers,  of  other  people's  affairs.  Warren  Rhett 
had  thought  this  matter  out.  He  had  definitely 
decided  that  it  would  be  futile  to  ask  Kate  to 
explain.  So  he  had  also  definitely  decided  to 
confront  Hazel  herself  with  the  problem  and  ask 
her  to  solve  it. 

But  his  train  was  delayed,  and  when  he  arrived 
at  Mannamac,  the  guests  were  already  assembling 
for  the  dinner-party  he  had  planned.  He  had  the 
briefest  possible  opportunity  of  speech  with 
Hazel.  In  that  brief  moment  he  said  to  her : 

"  Kate  tells  me  you  are  married.  Why  didn't 
you  tell  me  ?  I  shall  ask  you  to  explain  at  the  first 
opportunity." 

"  And  I  will  explain,"  she  said.  The  next 
moment  brought  others  into  the  conversation. 


XIV 

THE  TEST  OF  A   WOMAN'S   BEHAVIOR 

THE  company  assembled  included  a  con- 
siderable variety  of  persons.  There  were 
two  who  represented  the  old  life  —  a 
planter  and  his  wife.  The  planter  was  a  Colonel 
Forrest.  He  had  fought  through  the  Civil  War 
and,  as  he  put  it,  he  had  "  faced  a  somewhat 
ameliorated  form  of  starvation  ever  since."  He 
had  managed  to  retain  possession  of  his  plantation 
in  spite  of  the  incumbrances  upon  it.  He  had 
somehow  managed  to  make  the  land  yield  him  a 
living  under  inefficient  negro  culture,  and,  being 
something  of  an  optimist,  he  hoped  that  "  the 
thing  may  last  out  my  time  and  my  wife's." 

There  was  a  visiting  planter  from  Mississippi 
and  his  wife  and  daughter. 

There  was  a  newcomer,  a  Mr.  Bandon,  who 
had  bought  a  part  of  a  neighboring  plantation  — 
two  or  three  hundred  acres,  including  the  "  great 
196 


TEST  OF  WOMAN'S  BEHAVIOR  197 

house. "  He  and  his  wife  and  his  daughter,  who 
accompanied  him,  had  been  the  entertainers  of 
Kate  and  Hazel  on  the  day  of  Warren  Rhett's 
first  arrival  at  Mannamac.  They  were  altogether 
"  nice  "  people  —  refined,  educated,  and  accus- 
tomed to  the  most  gracious  social  intercourse, 
but  the  daughter  impressed  Rhett  as  rather  too 
intellectual.  There  were  some  other  newcomers  — 
obviously  gentlefolk,  but  less  well  known  to  the 
company  at  Mannamac.  There  was  Charley 
Danforth  of  course,  and  equally  of  course  his 
sister,  Miss  Sallie.  There  were  three  or  four 
others  who  need  not  be  catalogued  here. 

Warren  Rhett's  purpose  in  giving  the  dinner- 
party, or  "  dining-day,"  as  a  function  of  that  sort 
was  called  in  Virginia,  was  primarily  to  make 
acquaintance  with  his  new  neighbors  and  to 
reestablish  relations  with  those  who  had  been 
his  neighbors  during  his  father's  life.  But  he  had 
in  mind  also  the  fact  that  some  discussion  of  the 
negro  question  as  it  presented  itself  under  the  new 
conditions  in  Virginia  was  sure  to  arise,  and  he 
very  greatly  wanted  to  learn  the  views  of  the 
varied  company  on  that  subject. 


i98     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

The  dinner-party,  by  his  direction,  was  con- 
ducted upon  the  old  plan,  prevalent  in  Virginia 
before  the  Civil  War.  The  various  dishes  were 
placed  upon  the  table,  each  in  front  of  one  who 
was  expected  to  serve  it.  Before  each  gentle- 
woman there  was  a  vegetable  to  which  she  was 
expected  to  help;  before  each  gentleman  there 
was  a  joint  or  a  fowl  which  he  was  expected  to 
carve.  No  wine  accompanied  the  dinner.  That  — 
under  Virginian  traditions  —  would  have  been  a 
barbarism,  as  much  so  as  the  service  of  dessert  in 
advance  of  the  soup.  There  was  toddy,  with 
toast  in  it,  served  to  those  of  the  gentlemen  who 
wanted  it,  before  dinner.  But  not  until  the  dinner 
and  dessert  were  done  —  not  until  the  cloth  was 
finally  removed  from  the  mahogany  that  for  two 
hundred  years  had  been  polished  every  morning 
with  beeswax  and  cork  —  was  the  wine  brought 
on.  When  it  came,  it  was  an  old  sherry,  brought 
from  the  cellar  in  dusty  and  thickly  cobwebbed 
bottles,  and  decanted  in  the  presence  of  the  com- 
pany. When  it  came  the  host  filled  his  own  glass 
first  —  in  memory  of  those  charming  old  savage 
days  when  the  practice  of  poisoning  one's  guests 


TEST  OF  WOMAN'S  BEHAVIOR  199 

was  sufficiently  prevalent  to  render  some  reassur- 
ance necessary  —  and  then  pushed  the  decanter, 
in  its  velvet-shod  silver  stand,  to  the  guest  on  his 
right.  It  was  the  custom,  when  all  the  glasses 
were  filled,  for  the  host  to  rise  and  propose  "  The 
ladies,  God  bless  them."  It  was  the  custom  for 
the  gentlemen  to  rise  and  drink  the  toast  heartily, 
the  gentlewomen  taking  a  single  sip  in  response. 
It  was  the  custom  for  the  ladies  then  to  rise  and 
file  out  of  the  room,  the  gentlemen  meanwhile 
standing  and  the  host  gallantly  holding  open  the 
door. 

On  this  occasion  Warren  Rhett  set  aside  some 
of  these  customs  in  behalf  of  a  more  genial  and 
congenial  civilization. 

"We  will  pledge  the  ladies/'  he  said,  "  but 
we'll  ask  them  not  to  leave  us.  In  a  more  barbaric 
time  their  departure  from  the  dinner-table  when 
the  wine  came  on  was  necessary  in  order  that  the 
savages  then  known  as  gentlemen  might  be  free 
to  get  drunk  if  they  pleased.  The  custom  of 
dismissing  the  womankind  survived  in  Virginia 
long  after  the  gentlemen  ceased  to  get  drunk 
after  dinner.  I  ask  that  it  be  abolished  for  to-day 


200     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

—  I  beg  the  gentlewomen  of  the  company  to  re- 
main with  us." 

"  But,  Warren,"  Kate  said,  "  you  gentlemen 
mustn't  miss  your  smoke,  and  if  we  stay  you  won't 
smoke  till  we  all  go  out  into  the  porch  together. 
Of  course  every  man  is  as  disagreeable  as  he  knows 
how  to  be  after  dinner,  until  he  has  had  his  pipe 
or  cigar." 

"  But  why  shouldn't  the  gentlemen  smoke 
while  we  are  here?  "  asked  Hazel.  "  They  do  it 
at  dinner-parties  in  New  York,  where  the  dining- 
rooms  are  not  half  so  well  ventilated  as  this  one 
is.  And,  after  all,  women  do  not  really  object  to 
smoking.  They  pretend  to,  but  it  is  chiefly  an 
affectation." 

"  Oh,  Hazel ! "  interrupted  Kate,  "  you  mustn't 
give  away  our  sex's  secrets  in  that  way.  But  of 
course  there's  not  the  slightest  reason  why  the 
gentlemen  shouldn't  smoke  here,  with  seven  win- 
dows wide  open.  We'll  stay.  Bring  on  the  pipes 
and  cigars,  Henry." 

"  I  wonder,"  said  Miss  Bandon,  "  whether  the 
professed  objection  of  women  to  smoking  may 
not  be  attributable,  in  part  at  least,  to  jealousy." 


TEST  OF  WOMAN'S  BEHAVIOR  201 

"Would  you  mind  explaining?"  asked  Dan- 
forth,  who  had  taken  her  in  to  dinner.  All  the 
company  had  heard  her  question  and  they  awaited 
the  explanation  in  silence. 

"  I'm  not  quite  sure  I  know  what  I  mean," 
the  girl  answered.  "  Yes,  I  guess  I  do."  She 
was  not  a  Virginian  and  therefore  she  said  "  guess  " 
and  not  "  reckon."  "  I  mean  that  many  women 
smoke  in  secret,  and  when  a  banquet  is  on  —  you 
know  a  banquet  is  likely  to  grow  tedious  in  its 
length,  especially  after  the  speaking  and  the 
story-telling  begin  —  they  grow  impatient  for 
the  little  quiet  smoke  they  are  accustomed  to 
take  after  a  dinner.  If  they  cannot  or  will  not 
have  it,  it  seems  to  me  quite  natural  that  they 
should  object  to  all  smoking,  as  they  cannot  share 
in  it.  I've  known  them  to  take  short  cuts." 

"  Tell  us  about  that  please,"  said  Warren  Rhett, 
with  a  twinkle  of  recognition  in  his  eyes. 

"  Oh,  you  remember  it,  Mr.  Rhett,"  said  the 
girl,  "  though  when  you  met  me  this  afternoon 
you  did  not  know  we  had  seen  each  other  before." 

"  Frankly,  I  didn't,"  he  answered,  "  but  you 
really  must  excuse  —  " 


202      LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  Oh,  there  is  no  apology  necessary.  There  is 
not  the  slightest  reason  why  you  should  remember 
so  casual  a  meeting  with  an  insignificant  person  — 
especially  in  such  a  crush  —  and  I  doubt  if  I 
should  remember  it  myself,  but  for  —  but  for  — 
never  mind  that.  Let  me  tell  the  story  to  the 
company." 

She  gave  a  little,  playful  wave  of  her  hand 
to  Rhett,  which  had  the  effect  of  checking  his 
further  interposition.  Then  she  went  on  with 
what  she  had  to  say. 

"  It  was  at  a  great  literary  function.  We 
were  celebrating  the  seventieth  birthday  of  a 
great  author.  We  were  gathered  at  Delmonico's  — 
two  or  three  hundred  of  us.  I  was  there  because  I 
had  written  a  few  stories  that  had  been  published 
in  a  magazine.  Mr.  Rhett  was  there  —  as  he 
wouldn't  himself  tell  you  —  because  he  was  the 
author  of  two  novels  and  a  volume  of  verse  pub- 
lished by  the  firm  that  gave  the  dinner.  Now 
to  get  down  to  my  story.  We  were  seated  at 
round  tables  —  eight  at  a  table.  The  feeding 
was  over  and  the  speaking  had  just  begun. 
But  there  was  no  smoking  because  there  were 


TEST  OF  WOMAN'S  BEHAVIOR  203 

'ladies  present/  and  the  men  were  very  melan- 
choly. You  see  there  was  a  prospect  of  three 
hours  or  more  of  this  repletion  without  replevin 
as  it  were,  and  so  they  mourned.  At  the  psycho- 
logical moment  a  certain  woman  —  the  daintiest 
of  our  magazine  poets  and  story  writers,  —  really 
and  truly  the  daintiest  and  most  reserved  and  most 
refined  —  leaned  back  in  her  chair  at  the  next 
table  to  ours  and,  catching  Mr.  Rhett's  ear,  said : 

"  '  Have  you  such  a  thing  as  a  cigarette  upon 
your  person  ?  I  am  dying.' 

"  He  answered  '  No,  but  I  have  the  price.  What 
brand  do  you  prefer  ?  ' 

"  She  named  her  choice  and  within  a  few  minutes 
he  brought  her  a  box  of  twenty-five,  and  she 
proceeded  to  fumigate.  Her  example  was  in- 
stantly and  wildly  contagious.  Practically  every 
man  in  the  room  lighted  a  cigar  or  a  cigarette, 
and  the  melancholy  proceedings  became  joyous 
again.  Discourses  that  had  been  funereal  in  tone 
took  upon  themselves  the  optimistic  character  of 
college  commencement  addresses ;  lips  that  had 
been  drawn  down  in  grief  and  melancholy  were 
relaxed  into  such  smiles  as  theoretically  ought 


204     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

to  accompany  the  reading  of  the  comic  news- 
papers, but  in  fact  do  not.  From  that  moment 
onward  every  jest  hit  its  mark,  every  pleasantry 
accomplished  its  purpose,  and  every  speaker  felt 
that  he  had  succeeded  in  carrying  off  the  honors 
of  the  evening.  But  I  could  not  avoid  overhear- 
ing a  good  many  critical  comments  upon  the 
young  woman's  behavior  in  starting  the  fumiga- 
tion in  that  way.  I  refrain  from  quoting  those 
comments  —  as  I  refrain  from  giving  the  young 
gentlewoman's  name  — because,  personally,  I  do 
not  approve  of  women's  smoking,  and  I  detest 
cigarettes.  Still  I  think  that  young  woman 
saved  the  situation  as  no  man  could  have  done." 

Rhett  was  quick  to  see  that  the  girl  would  be 
promptly  beset  with  questions,  some  of  which  it 
might  embarrass  her  to  answer.  So  he  gallantly 
came  to  her  relief. 

"  I  think  I  had  the  pleasure  of  being  presented 
to  you  on  that  occasion,  Miss  Bandon,"  he  said. 

"  Why,  of  course,"  she  answered,  and  then, 
with  purely  mischievous  intent,  she  added :  "  You 
took  me  in  to  dinner  —  our  host  having  personally 
introduced  us.  For  three  or  four  hours  we  were 


TEST  OF  WOMAN'S  BEHAVIOR  205 

good  comrades,  and  then  of  course  you  forgot  all 
about  me,  after  the  manner  of  men." 

"  Believe  me,  Miss  Bandon  —  " 

"  Believe  me,  Mr.  Rhett,"  she  interrupted, 
"  that  no  apology  is  needed.  New  York  is  a  great 
wilderness  of  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men  — 
and  of  women  also.  And  a  vast,  mixed  company 
like  that  in  which  you  and  I  met  is  not  the  place 
for  the  making  of  acquaintance.  But  tell  me 
your  opinion  of  women  smoking.  I've  already 
told  you  mine,  so  you  are  at  advantage  with  me." 

"  It  all  depends,"  he  answered  thoughtfully. 

"  That's  a  most  conveniently  cowardly  phrase," 
answered  the  girl.  "  It  doesn't  mean  anything, 
but  it  saves  the  situation." 

"  Let  me  make  it  less  evasive  and  less  cowardly," 
said  Rhett,  a  trifle  nettled.  "  I  mean  that  it  all 
depends  upon  the  country  I  am  in.  You  see  I 
have  lived  in  many  remote  parts  of  the  earth. 
Customs  differ.  In  Mexico  everybody  smokes  — 
men,  women,  and  little  children;  and  everybody 
smokes  everywhere  —  in  street-cars,  steam-cars, 
parlors,  dining-rooms,  churches  —  everywhere. 
The  best-dressed  and  most  distinguished  dames 


206     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

of  a  Mexican  city  smoke  openly  as  they  take  the 
air  in  their  carriages  of  an  afternoon.  Even  their 
little  girls,  not  yet  in  long  skirts,  think  nothing  of 
following  their  mothers'  example.  The  sight  of 
women  smoking  in  Mexico  and  other  Latin- 
American  countries  neither  shocks  nor  distresses 
me,  but  I  frankly  confess  that  I  was  both  shocked 
and  distressed  when  that  young  woman  of  whom 
you  have  told  us  lighted  a  cigarette  and  kept 
the  thing  going  as  a  continuous  performance 
until  the  box  of  twenty-five  was  exhausted.  So 
much  for  prejudice,  I  suppose." 

"  I  cannot  agree  with  you  in  that,"  said  Hazel, 
gently  but  with  manifest  earnestness. 

"  What  is  your  thought?  " 

"  Why,  that  prejudice  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  matter.  Your  prejudices  —  whatever  their 
nature  may  be  —  do  not  change  or  cease  to  be 
when  you  cross  a  geographical  line." 

"  What  is  it  then  that  makes  the  difference?  " 
asked  Isabel  Bandon  with  a  note  of  challenge  in 
her  tone. 

"  Why,  simply  this,  that  undue  boldness  in 
women  —  in  whatever  way  it  is  manifested  —  is 


TEST  OF  WOMAN'S  BEHAVIOR  207 

always  and  everywhere  unlovely  —  detestable, 
abominable.  In  a  country  in  which  it  is  the  uni- 
versal custom  for  women  to  smoke,  a  woman's 
smoking  in  no  way  implies  or  suggests  undue 
boldness,  and  therefore  it  does  not  shock  or  dis- 
tress the  onlooker.  But  in  our  country,  where 
smoking  is  not  common  among  women,  —  where 
in  truth  it  is  so  very  unusual  that  public  indulgence 
in  it  is  forbidden  in  all  well-regulated  restaurants, 
—  the  woman  who  openly  smokes  does  something 
else  that  is  far  more  objectionable,  more  unlovely, 
and  more  unwomanly  than  the  mere  smoking 
can  be." 

"  And  what  is  that?  "  asked  the  other,  with  the 
note  of  challenge  and  even  of  defiance  in  her 
voice. 

"  She  lays  aside  her  self-respect,  she  quits  her 
womanhood,  she  forgets  that  modesty  of  de- 
meanor which  is  an  essential  of  good  behavior 
in  a  woman." 

Hazel  spoke  with  vehemence  —  almost  with 
anger,  as  if  in  recognition  of  the  challenge  of  the 
other.  That  other  made  no  open  reply,  but  to 
her  nearest  neighbor,  Danforth,  she  said : 


208     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  I  wonder  if  it  is  any  worse  than  for  a  woman 
to  visit  racing  stables  and  paint  portraits  of  horses 
for  jockeys  to  rejoice  in." 

Kate  overheard  the  remark,  though  she  did  not 
hear  Danforth's  placative  reply.  She  instantly 
said  to  the  company: 

"  Our  gentlemen  are  very  temperate.  They  are 
drinking  no  wine.  Why  then  should  we  not 
adjourn  to  the  porch  without  further  ado  ?  " 

On  their  way  out  Kate,  whose  feminine  per- 
ceptions were  exceedingly  quick,  and  whose 
loyalty  was  undying,  seized  Rhett's  elbow  and 
whispered  into  his  ear : 

"  That  woman's  a  cat.  She's  in  love  with  you 
and  she's  jealous  of  Hazel.  Look  out  for 
her." 

He  had  no  opportunity  to  say  even  a  word  in 
answer.  Perhaps  it  wasn't  necessary.  Kate  had 
an  abiding  faith  in  Warren  Rhett's  readiness  of 
perception  and  in  his  ability  to  take  care  of 
himself. 

She  presently  reinforced  that  ability.  When 
the  great  oaken  chairs  were  distributed  in  the 
porch  and  Warren  took  one  of  them,  Isabel 


TEST  OF  WOMAN'S  BEHAVIOR  209 

Bandon,  by  accident  of  course,  sat  down  in  the 
one  next  to  him.  He  said  something  pleasant  to 
her,  and  then  suddenly  found  that  his  long- 
stemmed  Powhatan  pipe  would  not  draw.  He 
rose  and  walked  out  into  the  grounds  to  clear  it 
with  the  broom  straw  which  he  had  requested 
Henry  to  bring.  When  it  was  cleared  he  did  not 
return  to  the  chair  he  had  before  occupied,  for 
the  reason  that  Kate  had  seated  herself  in  it  and 
was  engaged  in  earnest  converse  with  Isabel 
Bandon. 

Kate  had  tact  as  well  as  temperament.  She 
perfectly  knew  how  to  baffle  a  young  woman's 
purposes  while  winning  the  young  woman's 
favor  and  esteem.  So  Warren  Rhett  seated  him- 
self on  the  steps  of  the  porch,  and  leaning  against 
one  of  the  pillars  seemed  entirely  satisfied  with 
the  situation.  Kate's  tactics  amused  him. 

There  was  no  early  moon  that  evening,  but  as 
the  darkness  fell,  Kate  directed  Henry  to  light 
three  hanging  lamps  —  Venetian  iron- work  as  to 
their  frames,  and  encased  in  softly  colored  glass. 
Hazel  had  manufactured  the  things  for  porch 
purposes.  They  shed  a  softly  subdued  light 


210     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

throughout  the  porch,  without  offending  even  the 
most  sensitive  eyes  with  glare. 

The  conditions  and  the  company  seemed  so 
well  reconciled  to  each  other  that  when  the  time 
for  supper  came  Kate  ordered  that  rather  imagin- 
ary than  real  repast  served  "  lap  fashion,"  as  she 
said,  in  the  porch. 

Then  it  was  that  something  happened  to  turn 
the  conversation  into  the  channel  that  Warren 
Rhett  desired  and  had  predetermined  for  it.  But 
the  thing  came  about  in  a  way  of  which  he  had 
not  dreamed. 

Hazel  was  singing  by  request,  Kate  accom- 
panying her  upon  the  guitar,  and  all  the  company 
listening  with  delight  when  Isaac  —  the  negro 
head  man  —  came  shambling  up  to  the  porch, 
with  evident  desire  to  say  something. 


XV 

IN  THE  PORCH 

ISAAC  had  some  difficulty  in  presenting  his 
thought.  He  managed  at  last,  however,  to 
say: 

"  The  folks  don't  like  the  way  you  is  a  workin' 
'em,  an'  they's  a  thinkin'  o'  quittin',  leastways  for 
a  few  days." 

Isaac  had  hoped  that  this  note  of  warning  might 
impress  and  depress  Rhett.  It  seemed  to  have  no 
such  effect.  Rhett  said,  somewhat  languidly: 

"  I'm  very  glad  to  hear  that,  Isaac,"  and  he 
left  it  to  Isaac  to  make  the  next  remark.  Isaac 
did  not  find  it  easy  to  do  so,  but  after  awhile  he 
said: 

"  Yes,  sir,  they  don't  like  the  way  they's  a  bein' 
worked,  an'  in  partic'lar  they  don't  like  the  way 
their  liberty  is  bein'  took  away  from  them." 

"  Might  I  inquire  — it  is  a  matter  of  psycholog- 


211 


212      LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

ical  interest  to  me,  Isaac  —  might  I  venture  to 
inquire  in  what  respects  the  liberty  of  the  farm- 
hands upon  this  plantation  has  been  invaded  or 
abridged?" 

"  Your  words  is  a  little  bit  too  big  for  me,  Mas' 
Warren  "  —  the  negro  had  not  intended  to  lapse 
into  old  habits  on  this  occasion,  but  he  was  too 
much  interested  now  to  remember  to  say  "  Mr. 
Rhett  "  instead  of  "  Mas'  Warren  "  —  "  but  I 
think  I  make  out  your  meanin'.  You  want  to 
know  what  it  is  the  folks  is  a  complainin'  of.  Well, 
for  one  thing,  you  come  out  to  the  stables  'bout 
daylight  an'  you  stan'  round  to  see  the  mules  fed 
an'  curried,  an'  then  you  go  out  to  the  fields  an' 
see  the  work  started,  an'  all  day  long  you're 
liable  to  turn  up  an'  keep  it  a  goin'.  You  say  we 
must  ask  permission  if  we  want  to  lay  off  a  day^ 
and  you  see  it's  jes'  like  ole  overseer  times." 

"  I  think  I  understand  the  gist  of  the  grievance," 
said  Rhett.  "  Having  entered  into  a  contract  to 
render  a  year's  service  as  plantation  laborers,  for 
a  stipulated  wage,  and  for  stipulated  rations, 
house  rent,  et  cetera,  you  and  your  folks  —  while 
ready  enough  to  draw  the  rations  and  the  wages  — 


IN  THE  PORCH  213 

object  to  my  impertinence  in  insisting  that  you 
shall  also  do  the  work  agreed  upon.  Isn't  that 
about  the  size  of  it  ?  " 

"  Well,  sir,  you  see,  if  we  is  to  be  drove  an'  has 
to  ask  leave,  we  ain't  free." 

"  I  see,"  answered  Rhett.  Then  adopting  the 
Socratic  method,  he  asked : 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it,  Isaac  — 
you  and  the  others  ?  " 

"  Well,  sir,  they's  to  be  a  camp-meetin'  beginnin' 
to-morrow,  an'  we've  decided  to  be  thar." 

"Very  well,"  answered  Rhett,  "I  have  no 
objection  to  that.  But  where  do  you  purpose  to 
go  after  the  camp-meeting  is  over  ?  " 

"  W'y,  we'll  come  back  home  ag'in,  of  course." 

Warren  Rhett  waited  awhile  before  replying. 
Finally  he  said : 

"  Isaac,  you  had  better  go  now  and  tell  the 
folks  that  if  they  go  on  strike,  as  they  are  planning 
to  do,  —  I  mean  if  they  quit  the  plantation  for  a 
single  day  in  protest  against  my  insistence  upon 
honest  work  for  honest  pay,  not  one  man,  woman, 
or  child  of  them  shall  ever  come  back  so  long  as 
I  live.  Do  you  hear?  " 


2i4     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  But  Mas'  Warren,  we  ain't  got  nowhere  else 
to  go.  Whar  else  is  we  to  live  ?  " 

"  I  really  don't  know,"  answered  the  young 
man.  He  paused  to  let  the  thought  soak  in  as  it 
were.  Then  he  said : 

"  You  and  the  rest  are  free,  you  know.  You 
can  go  anywhere  you  please.  But  of  course  I  am 
free  too,  and  I  tell  you  if  you  and  the  others  quit 
work  for  camp-meeting  or  for  anything  else, 
you  cannot  come  back  to  Mannamac,  now  or 
hereafter." 

Isaac  was  in  a  daze.  He  could  not  understand. 
He  could  not  see  how  it  could  be  that  men  legally 
free  could  still  be  held  to  an  obligation  by  any 
other  man.  In  the  meanwhile  Robert  had  arrived 
and  had  modestly  seated  himself  upon  the  steps, 
near  his  old  playfellow  and  later  benefactor, 
Warren  Rhett.  At  the  smallest  hint  from  Rhett 
he  took  up  the  r61e  of  instructor  to  his  fellow 
black  man. 

"  Listen  to  me,  Isaac,"  he  commanded.  "  You 
and  the  rest  of  you  do  not  understand  what 
freedom  means.  Let  me  explain  it  a  little.  I  am 
a  free  man,  but  when  I  get  on  board  a  railroad 


IN  THE  PORCH  215 

train  I  must  pay  my  fare.  If  I  don't  the  conductor 
will  put  me  off,  and  serve  me  right,  too.  You  and 
the  rest  of  the  folks  are  living  on  this  plantation 
under  contract  to  cultivate  it.  If  you  don't  do 
your  work  you've  no  right  to  your  wages,  your 
rations,  or  your  rent-free  houses.  Can't  you 
understand  that?  Can't  you  understand  that  no 
man  is  free  enough  to  get  all  that  he  thinks 
coming  to  him  and  give  nothing  in  return  ?  Your 
notion  of  freedom  is  all  wrong.  No  man  in  all  the 
world  was  ever  free  in  the  way  you  regard  free- 
dom. Here  is  our  good  friend  Mas'  Warren  —  if 
he  will  let  me  call  him  by  the  name  that  was  dear 
to  me  in  our  boyhood  days  —  even  he  isn't  free 
in  any  such  fashion  as  that.  He  is  a  rich  man  I 
hear  —  at  any  rate  he  is  a  prosperous  one  —  and 
I'm  glad  of  that  —  but  even  he  cannot  do  as  he 
pleases.  He  must  respect  the  rights  of  others, 
and  especially  he  must  respect  and  fulfil  his  own 
obligations.  He  takes  contracts  to  build  railroads, 
dig  tunnels,  construct  bridges,  and  the  like.  Do 
you  imagine  for  a  moment  that  he  is  free  to  leave 
his  work  undone  and  still  expect  the  people  on 
the  other  side  to  pay  him  what  their  contract 


216     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

calls  for?  That  isn't  all  of  it.  If  he  should  refuse 
or  neglect  to  do  what  he  has  agreed  to  do,  the 
people  on  the  other  side  of  the  contract  would 
not  only  have  the  right  to  refuse  to  pay  him  any- 
thing —  they  could  go  into  court  and  compel  him 
to  pay  them  damages  for  his  failure  to  fulfil  his 
obligations." 

"  For  the  Lawd's  sake ! "  ejaculated  Isaac,  to 
whom  this  was  a  totally  new  view  of  human 
obligations. 

"  It  is  as  I  tell  you,"  said  Robert,  "  and  it  is 
time  for  you  and  others  like  you  to  try  to  under- 
stand what  freedom  and  liberty  mean.  If  you 
like  I'll  lecture  to  all  of  you  on  that  subject  and 
try  to  make  you  understand  it.  But  in  the  mean- 
while I  strongly  and  earnestly  advise  you  to  do 
your  duty  like  men,  to  fulfil  your  contract  of  work, 
and  to  obey  the  orders  of  a  man  who  has  a  right 
to  give  orders  at  Mannarhac." 

"  Well,  for  the  Lawd's  sake !  "  exclaimed  Isaac 
as  he  shambled  away.  "  An'  Bob's  a  nigga'  too ! 
Well,  who'd  a  thought  it !  I  reckon  may  be,  just, 
for  safety  like,  us  folks  had  better  let  the  camp- 
meetin'  be  what  they  call  '  slenderly  attended.'  " 


IN  THE  PORCH  217 

After  he  had  gone  Colonel  Forrest,  the  old 
Virginian  planter,  asked : 

"  Don't  you  think  you  are  rather  hard  on  the 
poor  darkeys,  Warren?  " 

"  Yes,  of  course  I  am.  But  it  is  for  their  own 
good.  It  is  the  one  thing  needed  —  the  one  thing 
that  will  improve  and  upbuild  the  race.  The 
trouble  is  that  the  rest  of  you  do  not  recognize 
and  insist  upon  the  fundamental  law  of  all  prog- 
ress —  human  and  other." 

"Just  what  do  you  mean  by  that,  please?" 
asked  Hazel. 

"  Well,  my  theory  is  based  upon  a  law  of  nature. 
From  the  lowest  to  the  highest  forms  of  life  — 
from  the  primordial  germ  to  the  ultimate  de- 
velopment of  human  genius  —  from  the  polyp 
to  the  poet,  from  the  oyster  to  the  orator,  from 
the  stamen  to  the  statesman  —  all  progress  is 
conditioned  upon  struggle,  and  due  to  it,  directly. 
Without  struggle  there  is  no  strenuosity  and 
without  strenuosity  there  is  no  advancement,  no 
betterment,  no  development.  In  the  case  of 
human  beings  even  more  than  in  the  case  of 
lower  forms  of  animated  existence  this  necessity 


2i8     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

is  imperative,  for  the  reason  that  human  beings 
have  mastered  other  secrets  of  survival  than  that 
of  fitness.  They  know  how  to  take  unfair  advan- 
tage of  nature  in  a  thousand  ways  that  are  im- 
possible to  plants  and  the  lower  animals. 

"  But  the  law  of  progress  is  absolutely  inexor- 
able. It  is  the  law  of  a  struggle  for  existence  and 
the  survival  of  the  fittest  —  not  necessarily  the 
best,  but  those  best  fitted  to  survive  under  the 
conditions  of  the  struggle.  An  unfair  advantage 
counts  for  just  as  much  as  a  fair  advantage,  and 
often  the  human  being  profits  by  it." 

"  Just  how  do  you  mean?  "  asked  Hazel,  who 
seemed  excitedly  interested.  "  There  is  a  thought 
behind  that,  or  I  am  mistaken." 

"Yes,  there  is  a  thought  behind  that,"  he 
answered.  "  But  the  thought  is  not  mine.  It  is 
Alexander  Von  Humboldt's.  He  characterized 
the  banana  as  *  the  curse  of  the  tropics,'  on  the 
ground  that  it  relieved  tropical  men  of  the  neces- 
sity of  work,  of  struggle,  of  enterprise  of  any  kind. 
It  is  true,  as  he  said,  that  the  man  who  plants  one 
banana-tree,  by  that  act  provides  food  for  himself 
and  his  descendants  to  the  tenth  generation,  in  a 


IN  THE  PORCH  219 

climate  where  clothes  and  shelter  are  not  really 
necessary  to  comfort.  The  result  is  that  having 
planted  the  banana-tree,  the  man  excuses  himself 
from  all  further  work  in  the  world,  and  his 
children  do  the  same  thing  after  him.  Emerson 
has  somewhere  said  that  every  man  is  as  lazy  as 
he  dares  be.  That  isn't  quite  true,  but  it  suggests 
a  truth  of  human  nature.  The  man  who  has 
planted  his  banana-tree  is  apt  to  quit.  His  son 
and  heir  is  apt  to  regard  the  paternal  banana-tree 
as  inheritance  enough.  In  other  words,  ease  of 
living  is  a  paralyzing  influence,  a  check  upon 
endeavor,  a  ministry  of  indolence.  Now  knowing 
the  negro  as  I  do  —  having  known  him  from  my 
youth  up  —  I  am  convinced  that  ease  of  living  in 
this  southern  land  of  ours  has  been  his  curse,  just 
as  it  is  the  curse  of  the  poor  whites.  Their 
standards  of  living  are  low.  Their  wants  are  few, 
and  they  find  it  easy  to  supply  them  with  very 
little  effort.  Consequently  they  make  the 
minimum  of  endeavor,  and  you  planters  —  by 
your  indolent  neglect  of  insistence  —  render  the 
negro's  problem  of  indolence  easier.  What  I 
contend  is  that  all  this  is  excessively  bad  for  the 


220     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

negro,  as  it  certainly  is  for  the  poor  white.  I 
hold  that  the  negro  or  the  poor  white  will  never 
and  can  never  advance  in  civilization  till  he  shall  — 
in  the  expressive  slang  of  the  time  —  be  put  '  up 
against  it.'  Not  until  he  has  to  fight  for  his  place 
in  the  world,  will  he  amount  to  anything  or 
achieve  anything.  At  the  north,  and  particularly 
in  New  York  City,  where  rents  are  very  high  and 
must  be  paid  on  the  first  day  of  the  month,  the 
negro  is  constantly  '  up  against  it.'  He  must 
pay  his  rent  or  get  out.  He  must  pay  for  his 
meats  and  his  vegetables,  or  go  without  them. 
In  a  word  he  must  hustle  and  he  does  so,  and  he 
is  the  better  man  for  it.  But  here  at  Mannamac 
and  on  other  plantations  round  about,  no  such 
conditions  have  prevailed.  The  negroes  here 
have  had  no  need  to  hustle.  Their  living  has 
come  to  them  easily.  They  can  live  whether  they 
work  or  not.  I  think  these  conditions  very  un- 
fortunate for  them,  and  so  far  as  I  can  I  purpose 
to  change  them.  I  have  the  kindliest  possible 
feeling  for  the  negroes  —  " 

At   that  point  Bob— or     the    Rev.     Robert 
Ryman,     D.D.  —  distinctly    chuckled.     Rhett, 


IN  THE  PORCH  221 

thus  interrupted  in  his  discourse,  asked,  "  What 
are  you  laughing  at,  Bob  ?  " 

"  If  I  laughed  it  was  unseemly,"  answered  the 
man,  "  or  at  any  rate  my  laughter  only  reflected 
my  joy.  Let  me  tell  the  gentlemen  and  gentle- 
women here  —  you  taught  me  to  say  gentlewomen 
instead  of  ladies,  and  the  word  is  better  —  what 
I  know  of  your  attitude  in  this  matter.  I  was 
born  a  slave  —  just  about  a  year  before  Mr. 
Rhett  was  born.  He  and  I  played  together  and 
I  want  to  say,  he  always  played  fair." 

"  Don't  lay  it  on  too  thick,  Bob,"  Rhett  said, 
interrupting.  "  Remember  that  I  still  have 
some  scraps  and  shreds  of  modesty  left,  and  I 
really  think  you  ought  to  spare  them." 

"  As  I  was  saying,"  said  Bob,  beginning  where 
he  had  left  off,  "  he  always  played  fair.  Well, 
he  did  more  than  that.  He  played  more  than 
fair.  He  sent  me  to  school.  After  that  he  sent 
me  to  college.  That  was  after  he  had  to  earn  his 
own  money  by  hard  work,  and  the  money  didn't 
come  easily  either.  He  sent  me  to  a  preparatory 
school  and  then  to  Harvard,  and  now  I  want  to 
tell  you  ladies  and  gentlemen  something  that  he'll 


222      LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

never  tell  you,  —  no,  Mas'  Warren,  you  can't 
shut  me  up  now  "  —  this  in  response  to  a  manifes- 
tation on  Rhett's  part  —  "  he  lived  on  tea  and 
crackers  in  New  York  in  order  to  give  me  my 
education.  Sometimes  he  couldn't  afford  the 
tea  and  sometimes  he  couldn't  afford  the  crackers, 
and  once  he  pawned  his  own  fraternity  pin  —  it 
had  a  diamond  in  it  —  to  help  me  make  a  man 
of  myself.  He  wants  me  to  shut  up  now,  but  I 
won't.  I'm  going  to  tell  God  all  about  all  those 
things  when  the  judgment-day  comes  and  leave 
it  to  God  to  say  what  ought  to  be  done  to  him 
on  account  of  them." 

The  situation  was  emotionally  strained.  Hazel 
relieved  it  with  a  tact  beyond  measure.  She  rose 
from  her  chair  and  advanced  to  the  negro,  who 
was  standing  now  and  full  of  enthusiasm.  She 
shook  hands  with  him  fervently  and  said : 

"  Thank  you !  Tell  God  all  that  when  your 
chance  comes.  But  now  we  want  to  hear  your 
views  about  the  education  of  negroes." 

Her  little  speech  gave  time  for  the  swallowing 
of  lumps  in  several  throats,  and  Robert  was 
prompt  to  respond. 


IN  THE  PORCH  223 

"  Well,  Miss  Hazel,"  he  said,  using  the  Vir- 
ginian negro's  license  to  address  any  young 
woman  by  her  first  name  with  the  respectful  pre- 
fix of  "  Miss."  "  Well,  Miss  Hazel,  that  is  the 
work  I'm  trying  to  do  in  the  world,  and  naturally 
I've  thought  a  good  deal  about  it.  But  Mr.  Rhett 
—  I  mean  Mas'  Warren,  for  he'll  always  be  that 
to  me  —  knows  more  about  it  than  I  do,  and  it  is 
more  fitting  that  he  should  speak.  He  and  I 
have  talked  over  the  subject,  and  we  are  fully 
agreed  regarding  it.  So  let  him  speak  in  my 
stead." 

"  No,"  answered  Rhett.  "  It's  your  turn  to 
shoot,  Robert,  as  we  used  to  say  when  we  played 
marbles.  You  have  had  practical  experience  in 
negro  education  —  I  have  nothing  better  than 
theories." 

"  Well,  I  don't  mind  telling  you  what  I  think 
if  you  want  to  hear.  I  reckon  you  can't  take  a 
whole  race  of  ignorant  and  half-developed  people 
by  the  nape  of  the  neck,  and  lift  them  up,  and  it 
seems  to  me  that  that's  what  people  have  been 
trying  to  do  with  the  negroes. 

"  I  reckon  the  average  intelligence  of  any  race, 


224     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

the  average  morality,  the  average  education, 
isn't  very  high.  I  reckon  if  you  averaged  it  up  on 
the  east  side  of  New  York,  or  on  the  west  side  for 
that  matter,  you'd  not  find  the  level  very  high. 
I  reckon  if  you  averaged  up  the  farmers  of  the 
north  you'd  get  a  rather  low  percentage  of  culture. 
And  if  you  ruled  out  a  few  highly  achieving  in- 
dividuals in  each  case,  your  average  would  be  very 
much  lower  than  it  is.  It  is  by  virtue  of  a  few 
individuals  in  each  case  that  the  average  is  kept 
up.  Now  I  really  suppose  that  the  only  thing  to 
be  done  in  any  such  matter  is  to  give  every  man 
a  chance,  and  to  let  the  average  take  care  of  itself. 
As  to  the  negroes,  it  is  obvious  that  only  here  and 
there  there  is  one  of  them  capable  of  highly 
intellectual  development.  The  fundamental 
trouble  is  misdirected  endeavor  —  an  effort  to 
educate  all  alike,  regardless  of  their  individual 
capacities.  There  is  a  fetich  in  education  as  in 
most  other  things.  If  I  understand  the  purpose 
of  education  it  is  to  develop  and  cultivate  each 
man's  capacity,  and  to  make  the  most  of  what  he's 
fit  for.  What  is  good  for  one  man  in  the  way  of 
education  may  be  very  bad  for  another.  What 


IN  THE  PORCH  225 

brings  out  and  makes  the  mpst  of  one  man's 
capacities  may  cripple  the  capacities  of  another 
man.  The  accepted  theory  of  education  is  that 
all  men  should  be  taught  the  same  things  in  the 
same  way  and  out  of  the  same  books.  It  seems 
to  me  all  wrong.  It  seems  to  me  that  some  people 
could  be  best  educated  without  any  books  at  all. 
It  seems  to  me  a  sad  mistake  to  spoil  a  good  car- 
penter trying  to  make  a  rhetorician  of  him.  I 
have  a  clipping  here  from  the  New  York  Sun  — 
a  brilliant  editorial  —  which  sets  forth  some  in- 
teresting historical  facts  and  presents  what  I 
regard  as  the  true  philosophy  of  negro  education 
better  than  I  can  do  it.  Miss  Hazel,  you've  got 
better  eyes  than  mine,  would  you  mind  reading 
it?" 

Hazel  took  the  clipping  and  standing  close  to 
one  of  the  shaded  lamps  read  aloud  as  follows : 

CONCERNING   NEGRO  EDUCATION 

It  will  perhaps  astonish  a  great  many  com- 
placent and  unsuspecting  persons  in  this  part  of 
the  country  to  hear  it  said  that  a  very  considerable 
number,  if  not  a  majority,  of  the  old-time  great 
Southern  slaveholders  were  heartily  opposed  to 
"  the  institution."  Such  is  the  truth,  neverthe- 


226     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

less,  as  every  one  familiar  with  the  inner  history 
of  that  section  knows  full  well.  There  is  no  room 
for  argument.  When  we  enter  the  domain  of 
imperishable  fact  we  shake  from  our  heels  the 
dust  of  controversy.  But  a  still  more  novel  and 
disturbing  truth  is  that  long  before  the  civil  war 
certain  Louisiana  landowners  of  the  magnificent, 
patriarchal  type  conceived  a  plan  for  "  educating  " 
their  slaves,  so  wise,  so  enlightened,  and,  as  it 
proved,  so  substantially  beneficent,  that  modern 
paternalism  could  advantageously  hark  back  to 
it  at  least  in  some  particular  respects. 

To  put  it  briefly,  we  may  say  that  long  before 
"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  "  saw  the  light,  and  while 
as  yet  the  great  slaveholding  magnates  of  the 
South  regarded  slavery  as  an  establishment 
beyond  the  reach  of  social  agitation  or  political 
vicissitude,  wise  and  kindly  members  of  the  ruling 
class  had  conceived  and  set  in  operation  a  system 
whereby  slavery  could  be  robbed  of  all  its  most 
repulsive  aspects  and  transformed  into  an  agency 
of  exaltation.  They  were  not  doctrinaires,  these 
well-meaning  men,  but  they  loved  their  slaves  and 
they  felt  it  their  duty,  as  it  already  was  their  earnest 
wish,  to  lift  them  out  of  the  mire  of  degradation 
and  subjection,  if  such  a  thing  were  possible. 
Thus  it  came  about  that  schools  were  established 
on  hundreds  of  plantations;  nothing  like  our 
modern  schools,  of  course,  but  just  plain,  simple 
agencies  of  experiment  and  observation.  The 
idea  was  to  disclose  the  special  gift,  proclivity,  or 
talent  of  the  individual,  not  to  set  up  a  Procrustes 
bed  in  the  way  of  a  smug  curriculum.  The  idea 


IN  THE  PORCH  227 

was  to  encourage  and  disclose  any  special  talent 
and  proclivity  in  the  individual.  The  young  were 
subjected  to  a  benevolent  and  enlightened  in- 
quisition. There  was  no  cut  and  dried  formula  of 
appraisement.  The  born  artisan  was  not  drilled 
to  death  in  botany  or  ethics;  the  appointed 
cooper,  mason,  or  blacksmith  was  not  required  to 
qualify  as  a  pianist  or  a  mathematician.  Special 
gifts  and  tendencies  were  ascertained,  developed, 
perfected.  And  so  it  followed  that  thousands  of 
slaves  became  bricklayers,  carpenters,  black- 
smiths, tailors,  engineers,  sugar  boilers,  artisans 
of  every  kind,  even  musicians,  and  were  permitted 
to  pursue  their  vocations  in  perfect  freedom, 
merely  paying  to  their  masters  a  small  percentage 
on  the  assessed  value  of  the  individual.  In  all 
respects  they  were  at  liberty.  They  lived  where 
they  pleased,  acquired  their  own  homes,  and 
accumulated  their  own  properties,  and  in  all 
these  respects  were  protected  by  the  law.  It  is  a 
fact  that  the  negro  who  dwelt  under  this  dispen- 
sation, seventy-five  years  ago,  enjoyed  more 
actual  freedom  and  received  more  substantial 
consideration  than  do  his  descendants  of  to-day, 
who  strut  about,  inflated  and  misled  by  the 
worthless  "  education  "  of  the  latter-day  public 
schools. 

A  detailed  record  of  the  fruits  of  this  system 
would  astound  the  philanthropists  of  the  present 
generation.  It  is  a  fact,  notwithstanding,  that 
the  slaveholders  of  the  last  century  did  more  to 
uplift  and  help  the  negro  than  all  the  doctrinaires 
and  societies  and  governments  of  our  day  are 


228     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

doing  or  are  likely  to  do ;  and  that,  considering 
the  results  in  view,  is  a  very  inadequate  and  pallid 
statement  of  the  case.1 

"  There  you  have  my  view,"  said  Warren 
Rhett.  "  I  believe  heartily  in  the  education  of 
the  negro,  but  I  do  not  at  all  believe  in  his  mis- 
education.  I  once  went  through  the  establish- 
ment of  Robert  Hoe  &  Co.,  the  greatest  manu- 
facturers of  wonderfully  complicated  printing 
machinery  in  the  world.  They  have  to  educate 
their  own  workmen.  To  that  end  they  maintain 
a  night-school,  and  in  order  that  their  two  or  three 
hundred  boys  may  attend  it,  they  give  all  of  them 
supper  at  a  restaurant  every  evening.  The 
managing  partner  of  that  great  firm  once  said  to 
me  in  answer  to  a  question : 

"  '  I'd  rather  have  a  boy  with  no  education  at  all 
than  a  boy  who  has  been  graduated  from  the 
grammar  school  or  from  the  high  school. * 

"  When  I  asked  him  why,  he  told  me,  sub- 
stantially this : 

"  '  The  boy  who  has  been  through  the  schools 

1  This  statement  of  historical  fact,  with  its  enlightening 
comment,  is  reprinted  here  with  the  generous  permission 
of  the  editor  of  the  New  York  Sun AUTHOR. 


IN  THE  PORCH  229 

thinks  of  his  employment  here  rather  as  a  step- 
ping-stone to  something  else,  than  as  a  lifelong 
occupation.  He  has  been  taught  that  he  may 
become  a  Congressman  after  awhile  —  or  a  Sena- 
tor or  even  President  of  the  United  States.  From 
the  very  word  "  go  "  he  treats  his  employment  here 
as  a  temporary  makeshift,  while  the  boy  who 
has  had  no  education  at  all  looks  upon  it  as  his 
life's  career,  and  proceeds  to  do  the  best  he  can 
to  equip  himself  for  it.  If  there  is  anything  to  be 
learned  that  will  help  him  he  struggles  to  learn  it. 
If  he  has  any  special  ability,  he  does  his  best  to 
develop  it  with  such  aid  as  our  school  gives  him. 
His  ambition  is  to  make  of  himself  the  very  best 
workman  he  can  in  the  establishment  of  Robert 
Hoe  &  Co.,  while  the  ambition  of  the  school- 
educated  boy  who  comes  to  us  is,  as  soon  as 
possible,  to  quit  our  service  for  something  that  he 
regards  as  higher  and  better.' 

"  Now,"  continued  Rhett,  "  there  is  much  of 
this  same  kind  of  thing  in  the  education  of  the 
negro.  Men  who  ought  to  have  been  taught  to 
do  expert  blacksmithing,  have  been  taught  in- 
stead to  write  worthless  compositions.  Boys 


230     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

who  ought  to  have  been  taught  how  to  run  engines, 
or  how  to  plough  or  how  to  cultivate  plants,  have 
been  taught  paradigms  instead.  There  is  a  good 
deal  of  the  same  thing  done  in  the  education  of 
white  boys,  but  it  is  especially  conspicuous  in 
negro  education.  Books  are  made  the  basis  of  it 
all,  when  the  majority  of  the  negro  boys  and  girls 
have  very  little  if  any  need  of  book  learning,  very 
little  if  any  capacity  for  it.  I  stood  on  the  docks 
at  Savannah  one  day  not  long  ago,  and  talked 
with  a  numerous  company  of  negro  boys  and 
girls  who  were  idling  there.  Every  one  of  them 
had  attended  school,  —  some  of  them  for  as  long 
as  ten  years,  —  but  I  could  not  discover  one  who 
had  advanced  beyond  the  first  reader,  or  one  who 
had  any  desire  to  do  so.  How  much  better  it 
would  have  been  to  train  those  boys  to  some 
useful  handicraft  and  to  teach  those  girls  the  high 
art  of  good  cooking !  Such  a  training  would 
have  equipped  them  for  useful  work  in  the  world. 
It  would  have  secured  to  them  the  certainty  of 
employment  at  good  wages  —  the  certainty  of  a 
prosperous  and  useful  life,  instead  of  the  shiftless 
existence  they  are  now  destined  to  lead." 


IN  THE  PORCH  231 

u  Then  you  think  manual  training  and  the  like 
should  take  the  place  of  scholastic  instruction  in 
negro  schools  ?  "  asked  Miss  Bandon,  who  was 
an  apostle  of  negro  education. 

"  In  a  large  degree,  yes.  Bob  has  told  you  how 
I  educated  him  in  the  best  schools  and  colleges 
there  are  in  America.  That  was  because  he  was 
intellectually  fit  for  that  sort  of  education.  I  am 
ready  to  do  the  same  for  a  dozen  others  if  Bob 
can  find  them  for  me.  I  doubt  if  there  is  another 
negro  on  this  plantation  who  would  be  benefited 
by  the  kind  of  education  Bob  has  received.  That, 
however,  isn't  the  marrow  of  the  matter.  The 
book  teaching  in  the  schools  is  converted  into  the 
mere  husks  of  learning,  because  it  is  not  directed 
to  any  rational  purpose.  In  Bob's  case  the  pur- 
pose was  obvious  and  advantageous.  He  has 
brains  and  character,  —  he  is  fit  to  be  a  leader  of 
his  people,  he  knows  their  weaknesses  and  their 
strength,  he  knows  their  needs,  and  he  is  qualified 
by  nature  to  think  soundly.  I  helped  him  to 
educate  himself  because  I  was  sure  that  in  no 
other  way  could  I  render  a  better  service  to  his 
race  or  to  the  country,  and  I  am  sure  of  that  yet. 


232     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

He  is  diligently  engaged  in  teaching  young  negroes 
the  things  that  it  is  best  for  them  to  learn,  and  in 
teaching  their  teachers  how  to  teach  them.  I 
am  so  well  pleased  with  his  work  that  if  a  contract 
I  have  just  taken  proves  half  as  profitable  as  I 
think  it  will,  I  am  going  to  endow  his  school  in  a 
way  that  will  enable  him  greatly  to  extend  its 
usefulness." 

"  He  is  a  greatly  good  man !  "  Hazel  whispered 
to  Kate,  and  Rhett  overheard.  By  way  of  avoid- 
ing discussion  of  that  subject,  he  made  haste  to 
add: 

"  It  is  my  objection  to  socialism  that  its  funda- 
mental purpose  is  to  excuse  men  from  the  struggle 
for  existence,  and  in  that  way  to  rob  them  of  the 
only  effective  incentive  to  endeavor.  It  is  possible 
that  under  the  paternal  governance  of  a  socialis- 
tic state  a  good  deal  of  human  suffering  might  be 
avoided;  but  it  seems  clear  to  me  that  under  a 
system  which  should  secure  a  comfortable  living 
to  every  man,  there  could  be  no  advancement,  no 
progress,  no  race  improvement,  because  under 
such  conditions  there  would  be  no  struggle  and 
no  necessity  of  struggle.  The  human  race  would 


IN  THE  PORCH    .  233 

simply  stagnate  and  degenerate.  There  would 
be  an  end  of  endeavor,  an  end  of  enterprise,  an 
end  of  progress,  because  the  very  conditions  that 
alone  stimulate  endeavor  invite  men  to  enter- 
prise, and  promote  progress,  would  be  no  longer 
present  in  the  world.  Henry  "  —  calling  to  the 
dining-room  servant  —  "I  wish  you'd  find  Isaac 
to-night  and  tell  him  that  if  he'll  get  the  ploughing 
done  down  in  the  Cooper  new  grounds  by  noon 
to-morrow,  or  by  two  o'clock,  he  and  all  the  rest 
of  the  field-hands  shall  have  permission  to  attend 
the  camp-meeting  for  two  days.  But  tell  him  that 
any  one  of  them  who  stays  away  longer,  needn't 
come  back  at  all. 

"  Miss  Hazel,  won't  you  and  Kate  give  us  a 
little  music  now?" 


XVI 

A  MIDNIGHT  RIDE 

KATE  accompanied  on  the  guitar  and  Hazel 
sang  to  the  delight  of  the  company,  while 
Rhett  chafed  sorely  under  the  restraint 
that   the   presence   of   company   imposed.     He 
wanted  to  talk  with  Hazel.    He  wanted  to  draw 
from  her  the  information  that  Kate  had  refused 
to  give  him,  while  she  at  the  same  time  urged 
upon  him  a  course  that  would  be  simply  impossible 
if  her  statement  of  the  case  was  correct. 

If  it  had  been  anybody  other  than  Kate  who  had 
told  him  that  Hazel  was  already  a  married  woman 
and  then  had  urged  him  to  win  her  in  spite  of  the 
fact,  saying  that  the  marriage  didn't  amount  to 
much  anyhow,  —  if  it  had  been  anybody  other 
than  Kate,  he  would  have  decided  without  hesita- 
tion that  there  must  be  some  other  fact  which 
opened  a  way  out.  But  with  Kate  as  his  inform- 
234 


A  MIDNIGHT  RIDE  235 

ant  the  case  was  far  more  perplexing.  It  was 
Kate's  habit  of  mind  to  have  her  own  way.  Rhett 
perfectly  understood  that  if  Kate  wished  him  to 
make  Hazel  his  wife,  as  she  obviously  did,  Kate 
would  not  pay  much  heed,  in  her  mind,  to  any 
legal  or  social  or  conventional  obstacles  that 
might  stand  in  the  way.  It  could  never  be  made 
clear  to  Kate's  inconsequent  intelligence  that  the 
people  she  loved  should  be  in  any  measure  re- 
stricted in  their  liberty  of  action,  in  any  degree  re- 
strained by  obligations.  "  I  want  it  so,"  was  quite 
enough  for  her.  She  had  always  had  the  things 
she  wanted,  and  it  was  therefore  impossible  for 
her  to  understand,  in  any  case,  why  she  should 
not  have  what  she  wanted.  In  this  case  she 
very  earnestly  wanted  Warren  Rhett  to  marry 
Hazel  Cameron.  The  trifling  fact  that  for  some 
unexplained  reason  the  law  forbade  that  made 
no  impression  upon  Kate's  mind. 

Knowing  this  temper  of  hers,  Warren  Rhett 
could  not  conclude,  as  he  would  have  done  under 
other  circumstances,  and  with  some  informant 
less  erratic  and  wilful  than  Kate,  that  the  alleged 
marriage  and  wifehood  of  the  woman  he  loved 


236     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

were  in  some  fashion  a  fiction,  a  myth  that  could 
be  dismissed  from  consideration.  Knowing  Kate 
as  he  did,  he  took  seriously  her  first  statement 
that  Hazel  was  already  married,  and  he  attached 
very  little  importance  to  her  suggestion  that  the 
marriage  amounted  to  nothing.  He  knew  that 
that  would  be  Kate's  view  of  anything  that  might 
stand  in  the  way  of  the  fulfilment  of  her  desires. 

Obviously  it  was  necessary  that  he  should 
challenge  the  facts  at  Hazel  Cameron's  hands, 
and  he  was  exceedingly  impatient  of  conditions 
that  prevented  or  postponed  that  challenge. 

At  last  the  evening  was  done,  the  carriages  were 
ordered,  and  one  after  another  the  guests  departed. 
Even  Danforth  asked  for  his  horse  and  pleaded, 
as  his  excuse  for  leaving,  the  necessity  of  an  early 
appointment  at  his  office. 

This  was  an  additional  grievance  to  Warren 
Rhett.  It  interfered  with  the  plans  he  had  sud- 
denly formed,  but  he  resolved  to  carry  out  those 
plans  in  spite  of  circumstances. 

As  the  last  of  the  guests  left,  the  late  rising 
moon  crept  up  above  the  tree-tops  of  the  wood- 
lands to  the  east,  and  without  even  consulting  his 


A  MIDNIGHT  RIDE  237 

watch,  Rhett  directed  Henry  to  "  order  the 
horses." 

"  We'll  ride  in  this  glorious  night-time,"  he 
said  to  Hazel.  "  You  will  chaperon  us,  Kate  — 
I  had  hoped  that  Charley  would  make  a  fourth." 

"  Two  are  company,"  answered  Kate,  "  and 
three  constitute  a  crowd.  Besides  that,  I  don't 
approve  of  chaperons.  Their  presence  is  an 
insult  to  both  the  man  and  the  woman  who  are 
supposed  to  be  watched.  And  then  again  the 
bread  has  been  distinctly  below  grade  for  three 
mornings." 

"  What  on  earth  has  the  bread  to  do  with  it, 
Kate?"  asked  Hazel,  in  an  astonishment  that 
she  ought  not  to  have  felt  —  knowing  Kate  as 
she  did. 

"  Oh,  it's  only  that  I'm  going  to  supervise  its 
mixing  to-night,  just  as  Warren  does  things  on  the 
plantation  —  to  see  that  it  is  done  right.  So  you 
two  are  to  go  for  a  ride,  and  I'll  have  the  bread 
right  in  the  morning." 

With  that  benediction  the  two  set  off.  They 
galloped  for  half  a  mile,  chiefly  because  their 
horses  —  stabled  all  day  —  delighted  in  the  ex- 


238     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

ercise.  Then  they  fell  into  a  walk  and  presently 
the  young  man  said  to  the  girl : 

"  I  want  you  to  tell  me  all  about  yourself  —  I 
have  a  right  to  ask  —  the  right  of  a  man  who  wants 
to  make  you  his  wife." 

"  I'm  sorry,"  she  said,  and  she  put  whip  to  her 
horse  by  way  of  preventing  further  conversation 
for  a  space.  They  galloped  for  another  half- 
mile.  Then  she  realized  —  or  perhaps  she  had 
realized  it  before  —  that  his  words  to  her  had 
been  such  as  a  woman  must  answer.  At  her  in- 
stigation the  horses  slowed  down  to  a  walk,  and 
presently  she  said : 

"  I  had  rather  tell  you  that  story  by  daylight 
at  Mannamac  —  so  that  I  may  tell  it  calmly  and 
judiciously,  and  not  under  the  inspiration  of  a 
night  ride  and  the  moonlight.  Sometimes  the 
moonlight  affects  me  strangely.  It  induces  a 
certain  exaltation  of  spirit  which  prompts  me  to 
throw  discretion  to  the  winds." 

"  That  is  precisely  what  I  want,"  said  Rhett. 
11 1  want  you  to  tell  me  your  life-story  at  a  time 
when  impulse  and  not  discretion  is  dominant.  So 
tell  me  the  story  now." 


A  MIDNIGHT  RIDE  239 

"  It  is  a  long  story,"  she  said,  deprecatingly. 

"  We  have  good  horses  under  us,"  he  replied, 
"  and  we  have  all  the  night  before  us  —  all  the 
night  for  the  telling  and  the  hearing.  But  tell  me 
first  —  are  you  or  are  you  not  a  married 
woman  ?  " 

"  I  am,  and  I  am  not,"  she  replied.  "  Only 
the  story  can  explain  that." 

"  Tell  me  the  story,  then." 

"  It  would  be  easier  for  me  to  tell  it  at  Manna- 
mac  in  the  daytime." 

"  I  dare  say  it  would.  But  I  want  to  hear  it 
now.  Go  on  and  tell  it,  please." 

The  girl  waited  a  moment  before  speaking. 
Then  she  said : 

"  You  are  so  like  my  father." 

"  Just  how  do  you  mean  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Why  —  I  hardly  know  —  but  you  have  a  com- 
manding way,  just  as  he  had.  Whatever  you 
order  must  be  done.  In  his  case  I  always  liked  to 
do  what  he  wanted." 

"  In  my  case  it  is  different?  " 

"  I  do  not  say  that,"  she  answered;  and  there 
she  stopped  speaking,  leaving  it  to  him  to  revive 


24o     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

the  conversation.  She  had  a  habit  of  doing  that 
sort  of  thing,  and  usually  Rhett  rejoiced  in  it. 
But  just  now  it  embarrassed  him. 

"  What  is  it  then  that  you  mean  to  say  ?  " 

"  Only  what  I  have  said,"  she  answered. 
Then  suddenly  she  changed  her  tone  and  her 
attitude,  and  —  almost  as  if  bursting  into  tears  — 
she  threw  out  her  hand  and  took  possession  of 
his,  saying: 

"  It  is  a  terrible  story,  Mr.  Rhett.  You  have 
been  good  to  me  ever  since  I  have  known  you, 
and  I  ought  to  tell  you  of  all  this  now,  because 
you  wish  it.  But  please  let  it  go  over  till  to-morrow. 
Please  give  me  a  little  time !  Please  wait !  The 
very  motion  of  the  horses  disturbs  my  thinking, 
and  I  must  tell  this  story  right  whenever  I  tell  it 
at  all.  Would  you  mind  galloping  now  and 
toward  Mannamac  ?  " 

The  emotion  of  the  girl  was  manifest,  and  Rhett 
was  very  tenderly  touched  by  it.  Pressing  the 
hand  he  held  in  his  own,  he  said : 

"  Everything  shall  be  as  you  wish.  So  far  as 
I  am  able  to  control  affairs  everything  on  earth 
shall  be  as  you  wish  always.  I  love  you,  Hazel. 


A  MIDNIGHT  RIDE  241 

I  don't  know  whether  I  have  a  right  to  tell  you  so 
or  not,  —  that  depends  upon  what  the  story  is,  — 
but  I  take  the  right.  Whatever  the  condition  of 
things  may  be,  I  love  you,  and  I  shall  do  all  that 
is  in  my  power  to  compel  circumstances  to  your 
will." 

The  girl  rode  on  in  silence  —  for  the  gallop 
she  had  suggested  as  a  means  of  relieving  the 
emotional  strain  had  not  yet  begun.  He  waited 
awhile  for  some  answer  from  her,  but  no  answer 
came.  It  was  not  Warren  Rhett's  habit  to  wait 
long,  without  taking  active  measures  to  secure 
his  answer.  So  presently  he  broke  the  silence : 

"  I  have  told  you,  Hazel,  that  I  love  you. 
Have  you  no  answer  to  make?  Do  you  love 
me?" 

"  I  am  not  free  to  answer  that  question,"  she 
said.  "  Wait,  wait,  wait !  You  shall  know  to- 
morrow what  my  situation  is.  Then  you  shall 
take  whatever  answer  you  think  best.  I  love  you 
so  well,  so  wholly,  so  utterly,  that  I  place  all 
things  in  your  hands  —  myself  and  my  life  — 
and  my  future  and  my  past.  But  you  must  first 
know  the  story  in  order  that  you  may  judge 


242     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

wisely.    I'll  tell  you  all  of  it  to-morrow.    I  can't 
now.    Let's  run  our  horses !  " 

And  they  did,  with  the  result  that  they  speedily 
parted  in  the  great  hall  of  Mannamac  house  — 
Hazel  hurrying  up  the  stairs,  to  escape  from  a 
presence  which  she  felt  to  be  a  benediction,  but 
at  the  same  time  a  danger,  and  he  lighting  a  pipe 
by  way  of  calming  his  perturbed  spirit. 


XVII 

KATE'S  DIPLOMACY  AND  MUSHROOMS 

WITH  all  her  seeming  inconsequence  of 
thought,  Kate  Rhett  was  a  woman  of 
exceeding  sagacity.    She  knew  how  to 
"  put  two  and  two  together,"  though  she  was  apt 
to  be  a  trifle  uncertain  as  to  whether  two  and 
two  made  three  or  four. 

Hazel  said  not  one  word  to  her  that  night  with 
respect  to  what  had  occurred  between  herself 
and  Warren  Rhett,  but  Kate  thought  she  under- 
stood. There  was  something  of  perturbation  in 
the  manner  of  both  on  their  return  to  Mannamac, 
and  Hazel  hastily  retired  to  her  room  after  kissing 
Kate  "  good  night."  Kate  argued  that  the  two 
had  not  yet  "  had  the  thing  out,"  —  a  conclusion 
in  which  she  was  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  War- 
ren, instead  of  going  to  bed  at  midnight  —  his 
customary  hour  —  walked  the  porch  for  half  the 
remainder  of  the  night  —  smoking  incessantly, 
243 


244     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

as  she  was  able  to  determine  by  the  fact  that 
frequently  she  heard  the  click  of  his  pipe  upon 
the  edge  of  the  jar  she  had  provided  as  a  receptacle 
for  ashes. 

"  They're  going  to  fight  the  thing  out  to-mor- 
row," she  argued,  "  and  I  must  take  myself  out 
of  the  way." 

So  Kate  left  her  bed  at  five  o'clock  and  made  a 
personal  inspection  of  the  bread  that  she  had  set 
overnight.  Deciding  that  it  needed  half  an  hour 
more  of  "  rising  "  before  being  kneaded,  she  set 
to  work  to  write  a  note  to  her  intimate  friend, 
Hallie  Harvey,  who  lived  on  a  neighboring  plan- 
tation. The  "  note  "  covered  sixteen  pages  of 
deckel-edged  letter-paper,  of  course,  but  the  gist 
of  it  was  embraced  in  a  paragraph  which  ran  as 
follows : 

"  You  must  send  for  me  at  once.  It  mustn't 
be  by  my  messenger,  but  by  one  of  your  own,  and 
he  must  get  here  at  breakfast-time.  You  see,  if 
you  used  my  messenger,  they  would  suspect 
collusion,  and  that's  like  the  leaven  refusing  to 
raise  your  bread,  or  raising  it  too  soon.  It  is 
curious  about  cooks  and  bread.  I  suppose  you 


KATE'S  DIPLOMACY  245 

have  the  same  experience.  Every  three  weeks  — 
or  is  it  every  six,  I  declare  I  forget  which  it  is  — 
my  cook  begins  to  run  down  in  her  bread  and  I 
have  to  teach  her  all  over  again  how  to  make  it. 
It's  very  provoking,  isn't  it  ?  You'd  think  it  was 
easy  and  simple  and  all  that  sort  of  thing,  but  you 
know  they  forget,  and  my  cook  actually  sent  in 
the  roe  herrings  horribly  overdone  a  few  mornings 
ago.  Hazel  and  Warren  were  awfully  nice  about 
it,  saying  that  '  occasionally '  they  liked  them 
done  that  way,  but  all  the  same  it  is  provoking. 

"  As  I  was  saying,  you  must  send  me  a  summons 
to  come  to  you  at  once  and  for  the  day.  I  don't 
suppose  it  will  take  them  more  than  one  day  to 
talk  the  thing  out.  Your  message  must  get  here 
while  we're  at  breakfast.  You  can  easily  arrange 
it.  You  can  have  a  new  bonnet,  or  a  headache, 
or  a  bad  liver,  or  a  lawsuit,  or  even  a  fever,  that  you 
want  to  consult  me  about.  Anyhow  you  must 
want  to  consult  me,  and  you  must  want  me  as  soon 
ajter  breakfast  as  possible,  so  that  I  can  excuse  my- 
self at  once.  I'll  leave  Hazel  to  dry  the  breakfast 
things,  and  he  can  stay  and  talk  with  her.  I 
mean  Warren,  of  course.  I  think  a  woman  never 


246     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

looks  so  fascinating  to  a  man  as  when  she  is 
sitting,  queen-like,  drying  the  breakfast  things. 
I  have  tried  hard  to  think  out  why  but  I  can't. 
It's  a  fact,  however,  so  don't  fail  to  send  me  a 
peremptory  summons  to  come  to  you  just  as  soon 
after  breakfast  as  possible.  And  by  the  way,  I 
want  you  to  see  Hazel  in  her  new  gown,  so  if  you 
don't  mind,  I'll  bring  you  back  with  me  to  dinner. 
They're  sure  to  be  through  talking  the  thing  out 
by  that  time,  don't  you  think  ?  " 

Hallie  Harvey  was  a  woman  of  responsive 
humor  in  all  ways,  so  she  promptly  dismissed 
Kate's  little  darkey  and  wrote  the  desired  sum- 
mons, sending  it  by  a  servitor  of  her  own,  with 
instructions  to  deliver  it  between  nine  and  half- 
past  nine  of  the  clock. 

"  I  want  you  to  come  to  me,"  she  wrote,  "  as 
soon  as  you  have  drunk  one  cup  of  coffee.  I'll 
give  you  a  second  cup,  if  you  want  it.  I'm  in  all 
sorts  of  trouble.  That  Baltimore  milliner  has 
sent  me  a  hat  so  beautiful  in  itself  that  I  long  to 
wear  it,  but  so  out  of  harmony  with  the  color 
scheme  of  my  new  gown  that  I  can't.  I'm  simply 
in  despair.  A  misfit  suitor  couldn't  give  me  half  so 


KATE'S  DIPLOMACY  247 

much  trouble.  Come  to  me  at  once,  I  pray 
you." 

Then,  wise  woman  that  she  was,  she  added  a 
postscript,  saying: 

"  Of  course  Hazel  will  look  after  things  at 
Mannamac  for  the  day.  Now  that  Mr.  Rhett  is 
there,  the  plantation  can't  be  left  even  for  a  day 
without  a  woman  in  presence.  Men  have  no 
use  or  tolerance  for  Edens  with  no  Eves  in  them. 
But,  if  you  don't  mind,  you're  going  to  take  me 
back  with  you  to  Mannamac  for  dinner  and  the 
night,  so  I'll  see  Hazel  then  and  we'll  talk  chiffon 
without  limit.  Men  always  have  new  stories  to 
tell  each  other ;  we  women  must  content  ourselves 
with  a  talk  of  new  rags.  But  the  main  thing  is 
that  you  must  come  over  at  the  very  earliest 
moment  possible  —  just  as  soon  as  you  can 
decently  quit  the  breakfast-table.  If  you  don't 
I  vow  I'll  go  away  somewhere,  look  up  a  comely 
coachman,  and  ask  him  to  run  away  with  me." 

Without  a  hint  that  she  had  by  her  own  iii- 
itiative  induced  this  urgent  letter  of  invitation, 
Kate  read  it  aloud  at  the  breakfast-table,  and  the 
"  consensus  of  opinion  "  was  entirely  unanimous 


248     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

that  she  must  order  the  carriage  at  once  and  go  to 
her  friend  with  the  least  possible  delay. 

If  any  cynic  is  disposed  to  suggest  that  women 
are  not  without  guile,  he  may  be  reminded  that 
their  guile  is  in  itself  guileless,  and  is  instigated  — 
in  many  cases  at  least  — by  considerations  of  the 
happiness  of  others.  Who  would  harshly  con- 
demn the  subterfuges  and  kindly  deceptions  of 
Christmas  conspirators? 

However  that  may  be,  no  such  ethical  questions 
presented  themselves  to  Kate's  mind.  If  they 
had  done  so  she  would  have  dismissed  them  as  the 
grossest  of  impertinences.  She  wanted  things 
arranged  for  the  day  as  she  had  planned,  so  that 
Hazel  and  Warren  might  "  talk  their  talk  out." 
The  fact  that  she  wanted  it  so  was  quite  all 
of  justification  her  self-contained  conscience 
required. 

She  hurriedly  ordered  the  carriage;  she  hur- 
riedly dressed  herself  for  the  day's  visit,  and  she 
hurriedly  left  Hazel  in  charge  at  Mannamac  — 
placing  the  key  basket  in  her  hands  and  saying  : 

"  Now,  dear,  I  must  leave  it  to  you  to  order 
what  you  think  best  for  dinner.  This  hurried  and 


KATE'S  DIPLOMACY  249 

passionate  appeal  from  Hallie  for  counsel  and  as- 
sistance has  upset  me  so,  you  know,  that  I  can't 
think  of  anything.  Just  order  what  you  think 
best.  Only  remember  that  Hallie  will  be  with  us 
at  dinner,  and  Charley  is  pretty  certain  to  come. 
There's  a  roast  of  beef  in  the  ice-box,  and  a 
young  turkey,  and  a  pair  of  ducks,  and  some 
broiling  chickens;  and  of  course  there's  a  shoat 
in  the  ice-house,  or  half  of  one,  and  —  " 

"  For  heaven's  sake,  Kate,  stop.  You're  not 
going  to  entertain  a  regiment  of  troopers  or  a 
battalion  of  artillerymen.  You've  catalogued 
enough  food  for  either  of  such  occasions.  I  shall 
have  a  due  regard  to  circumstances.  I  shall  plan 
and  serve  strictly  a  studio  dinner  —  what  the 
French  call  a  '  little  dinner,'  and  if  you  don't 
like  it  your  guests  will.  The  carriage  is  waiting 
for  you.  Go !  " 

For  the  sake  of  compact  completeness  it  should 
here  be  recorded  that  with  the  exception  of  the 
ptice  de  resistance  Hazel  cooked  that  dinner  her- 
self—  greatly  to  the  consternation  and  disgust 
of  the  negro  queen  of  the  kitchen.  The  weather 
was  feeling  a  touch  of  autumn  coolness  now,  so 


LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

that  there  was  a  brisk  wood  fire  in  the  dining- 
room,  by  aid  of  which,  and  with  the  assistance  of 
a  chafing-dish,  the  girl  prepared  all  the  dishes, 
other  than  the  roast,  with  a  skill  acquired  by 
long  years  of  living  in  a  studio  where  the  make- 
shift was  the  masterpiece  in  the  art  of  dining. 

But  in  the  meanwhile,  during  the  day,  she  had 
told  Warren  Rhett  the  first  part,  at  least,  of  the 
story  that  explained  it  all  —  the  story  of  her  own 
life,  and  in  the  light  of  it  he  had  watched  her 
preparation  of  the  dinner  with  an  interest  so 
eager  and  a  disposition  so  aggressively  helpful 
that  on  two  or  three  occasions  he  came  near 
spoiling  results. 

Nevertheless  he  was  really  helpful,  in  his 
clumsy,  manly  fashion. 

"  I  wish  I  had  some  mushrooms  that  I  could 
be  sure  were  not  toadstools,"  she  said,  as  she 
began  to  prepare  for  the  fray. 

"  Come  with  me,"  he  said  in  his  commanding 
way,  "and  we  will  find  some."  Their  day's 
converse  was  over  by  that  time  —  or  rather  it 
had  been  interrupted  by  the  coming  of  Isabel 
Bandon,  and  the  effect  of  it  upon  Warren  Rhett 


KATE'S  DIPLOMACY  251 

had  been  to  make  him  a  more  imperiously 
dictatorial  personage  than  ever. 

"  Very  well,"  Hazel  answered  submissively. 
"  I  suppose  you  know  edible  from  poisonous 
mushrooms  with  as  much  certainty  as  you  know 
everything  else  that  you  profess  to  know  at  all." 

"  Do  you  mean  that  as  an  accusation  of  arro- 
gance and  self -conceited  assumption  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Not  at  all.  I  have  a  great  —  even  a  reverent — 
admiration  of  the  way  in  which  you  know  things. 
I  was  thinking  only  of  that.  I  didn't  know  you 
knew  how  to  distinguish  edible  from  poisonous 
mushrooms,  but  I  ought  to  have  understood  that 
of  course  you  knew.  Come  on,  Isabel." 

"  Not  at  all,"  he  answered.  "  It  is  by  pure 
accident  that  I  know  anything  about  it  —  pure 
accident.  May  I  tell  you  the  story?  " 

"  Certainly.  I  shall  be  delighted  to  hear  it  and 
so  will  Isabel."  The  three  were  walking  in  the 
pastures  now. 

"  Well,  at  one  time,  when  business  opportuni- 
ties had  not  opened  themselves  to  me  in  any  very 
satisfactory  way,  I  used  to  write  a  little  for  the 
newspapers  —  not  regular  articles,  you  know,  or 


252     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

news  revelations  or  anything  of  that  sort,  but  just 
odds  and  ends  and  chatter.  One  day  I  took  my 
lunch,  as  I  often  did,  at  Sutherland's  in  Liberty 
Street.  He  had  the  best  cold  roast  beef  in  the 
world,  because  he  nursed  it  week  after  week  into 
perfection.  He  had  everything  else  in  perfection, 
too,  from  old  Virginia  hams  to  cutlets  of  wild 
boar  from  the  Black  Forest  in  Germany.  His 
specialty  was  knowing  how  to  handle  food  prod- 
ucts in  a  way  to  make  the  most  and  the  best  of 
them.  While  I  was  lunching  there  that  day,  my 
attention  was  attracted  by  two  great  colored 
charts  that  hung  on  the  wall,  the  one  purporting 
to  show  every  detail  of  the  edible  mushroom,  the 
other  every  detail  of  the  poisonous  varieties. 
He  explained  to  me,  in  answer  to  my  questions, 
that  he  had  imported  these  two  carefully  colored 
charts  from  Vienna,  with  a  public-spirited  intent. 
It  had  been  his  plan  to  have  lithographic  copies 
made  of  them,  and  to  hang  them  on  the  walls  of 
every  school  in  New  York  State.  '  Thousands  of 
tons/  he  said  to  me,  '  of  food  as  nutritious  as 
beefsteak  itself  go  to  waste  every  day,  simply 
because  people  don't  know  about  mushrooms. 


KATE'S  DIPLOMACY  253 

They  don't  know  one  variety  from  another  — 
the  edible  from  the  poisonous  —  and  worst  of 
all,  they  don't  know  how  to  handle  them.  I 
imported  those  charts,  in  the  hope  that  by  fur- 
nishing copies  of  them  to  all  the  public  schools 
in  the  State,  I  might  be  instrumental  in  teaching 
the  children  of  the  State  how  to  save  this  wealth 
of  nutritious  food.  But  the  school-teachers  had 
grammar  to  teach,  and  geography  and  rhetoric 
and  all  the  rest  of  it,  and  so  they  couldn't  be 
bothered  to  learn  and  teach  mushrooms.  It  is 
the  old  story.  The  schools  busy  themselves  with 
the  husks  of  learning  and  have  no  time  left  for 
anything  that  has  juice  in  it.' 

"  The  thing  seemed  to  me  to  furnish  good 
material,  so  I  wrote  and  printed  an  article,  in 
which  I  told  the  story  of  the  restaurateur's  effort, 
at  his  own  expense,  to  benefit  the  people,  and  of 
the  way  in  which  conventionalism  had  defeated 
his  purpose.  A  little  later  I  was  taking  luncheon 
there  again,  when  Sutherland  came  to  me  and 
bade  me  eat  slowly,  for  the  reason  that  he  had 
something  in  preparation  that  he  wanted  me  to 
eat.  Presently  he  brought  me  a  dish  of  stewed 


254     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

mushrooms,  and  while  I  ate  of  it  I  asked  him 
what  the  mushrooms  were.  He  replied,  *  There 
are  eleven  varieties  in  the  dish,  and  every  one 
belongs  in  the  poisonous  class.'  Then  he  ex- 
plained, citing,  as  an  illustration  of  his  meaning, 
the  manioc  root,  the  juice  of  which  is  so  poisonous 
that  even  a  whiff  from  it,  inhaled  through  the 
nostrils,  will  kill  almost  instantly;  while  when  it 
is  set  in  the  sun  and  allowed  to  evaporate  it  leaves 
as  a  residuum  that  most  innocent  of  food  stuffs, 
tapioca.  In  the  same  way,  he  said,  all  mushrooms 
may  be  made  innocuous  by  proper  handling.  All 
are  edible  except  that  a  few  varieties  have  an 
unpleasant  flavor.  The  incident  led  me  to  study 
the  subject  a  little.  I  mastered  his  charts  and 
then  I  bought  Gibson's  book  on  the  subject,  and 
with  the  aid  of  that  I  made  myself  so  far  an  expert 
that  you  may  confidently  serve  to  us  any  fungus 
growth  that  I  commend  to  you." 

"  It  is  all  very  wonderful,"  said  Hazel. 

"About  the  mushrooms?"  he  asked. 

"  No.     About  you." 


XVIII 

THE  BEGINNING  OF  HAZEL'S  STORY 

THE  talk  about  mushrooms  and  all  the 
rest  of  it  occurred  in  the  afternoon,  long 
after  Hazel  had  told  her  story,  or  a  part 
of  it,  to  Warren  Rhett.    That  story  was  told,  so 
far  as  it  was  told  at  all,  before  an  open  fire  in  the 
great  drawing-room,  partly  because  —  although 
the  mushrooms  were  still  growing  in  the  pasture 
lands,  —  there  was  a  chill  of  autumn  in  the  air, 
and  partly  because  Hazel  preferred  to  tell  the 
story  under  cover  of  drawn  curtains  and  with 
only  the  flickering  firelight  for  an  accompaniment. 
"  Nothing  about  me  has  ever  been  regular," 
she  said,  "  or  what  would  be  called  respectable. 
I  was  born  in  a  studio,  I  suppose.    At  any  rate 
my  father  and  mother  lived  in  a  studio   when  I 
was  born,   and  if  they  had  any  more  regular 
dwelling-place  I  never  heard  of  it." 
255 


256     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

Here  the  girl  stopped  and  taking  from  a  vase 
some  of  the  late-blooming  honeysuckles,  she  pro- 
ceeded to  fasten  them  upon  the  lapel  of  Rhett's 
coat.  Presently  she  resumed : 

"  After  the  wild,  mad  things  I  said  to  you  last 
night  —  that  I  and  my  life  and  everything  else 
were  yours  to  do  with  as  you  pleased  —  I  needn't 
hesitate  to  pay  you  a  tribute  of  flowers,  I  suppose. 
I  am  not  instructed  in  such  matters.  I  have  had 
no  education  —  no  proper  bringing  up.  I  have 
never  lived  in  society.  I  don't  know  what  is 
proper  and  what  isn't  —  but  I  know  when  my 
own  impulses  are  really  right,  even  though  they 
be  conventionally  wrong,  and  my  impulse  now  is 
to  pin  honeysuckles  on  your  coat  lapel  because 
you  are  the  great,  generous,  broad-minded  man 
that  you  are  !  " 

This  speech,  and  the  act  accompanying  it,  were 
obviously  nothing  more  than  subterfuges,  meant 
to  cover  the  emotional  disturbance  of  the  girl  at 
thought  of  telling  her  life  story.  Rhett  under- 
stood, and  for  reply  he  said : 

"  Conventionalities  are  nothing  more  than  rules 
made  for  people  who,  without  them,  would  go 


'- 


'I  NEEDN'T  HESITATE  TO  PAY  YOU  A  TRIBUTE  OF  FLOWERS, 
I  SUPPOSE."  —  Page  256. 


HAZEL'S  STORY  257 

wrong  —  ignorant  people,  ill-disposed  people. 
Persons  of  real  intelligence  and  refinement  are  no 
more  bound  by  them  than  authors  of  high  repute 
are  bound  by  the  rules  laid  down  in  schoolbooks 
of  rhetoric." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  Hazel,  and  she  at  once 
resumed  her  story. 

"  My  father  was  a  sculptor,  a  man  of  genius 
I  know,  but  a  man  who  could  never  manage  his 
own  business  affairs  in  such  fashion  as  to  keep 
himself  out  of  debt.  I  never  knew  my  mother. 
She  died  so  soon  after  my  birth  that  I  do  not 
remember  her  at  all.  I  was  brought  up  in  the 
studio,  without  any  woman  to  attend  me  or  in- 
struct me.  Sometimes  we  lived  in  New  York  — 
my  father  and  I  —  sometimes  in  Paris  or  Milan 
or  Florence  or  Rome.  It  all  depended  upon  the 
commissions  my  father  could  get.  I  suppose  I 
got  such  instruction  as  I  got  at  all  mainly  from  the 
people  who  visited  the  studio,  and  they  were  of 
many  kinds.  Some  of  them  were  artists,  some  of 
them  vulgar  rich  people,  some  of  them  art  lovers 
of  refinement  and  cultivation.  They  all  made 
much  of  me  —  perhaps  because  I  was  a  poor 


258     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

little  motherless  girl.  At  any  rate  they  talked  with 
me  a  great  deal.  From  them  and  the  street  chil- 
dren I  learned  French  and  Italian,  not  regularly, 
you  know,  but  in  a  pickup  way,  so  that  I  speak 
both  those  languages  more  fluently  than  correctly. 

"  In  the  meanwhile  I  was  learning  something 
of  art,  partly  from  my  father  and  partly  by  in- 
cessant contact  with  it,  together  with  ceaseless 
talk  about  it.  I  used  to  model  a  good  deal  in 
clay,  but  that  had  to  be  only  in  the  way  of  figurines 
and  miniature  busts,  because  I  wasn't  physically 
strong  enough  to  handle  larger  pieces.  Besides, 
I  had  no  real  gift.  Like  most  other  sculptors,  my 
father  sometimes  painted,  and  I  took  to  that 
eagerly.  I  learned  a  good  deal  about  the  technique 
of  it,  and  especially  about  how  to  produce  color 
effects,  though  I  had  no  regular  instruction.  If 
I  had  possessed  any  real  artistic  ability  I  might 
have  become  a  successful  painter.  As  it  was  I 
learned  all  the  tricks  of  painting,  so  that  after- 
wards I  was  able  to  earn  my  living  by  it,  as  I  shall 
tell  you  presently.  But  I  could  never  become  a 
real  artist,  of  course,  because  I  have  no  gift." 

"  Will  you  pardon  me  if  I  do  not  agree  with 


HAZEL'S  STORY  259 

you?  In  my  opinion  those  two  horse  pictures 
that  hang  in  the  hall  out  there  seem  to  me  to 
suggest  a  very  genuine  gift." 

"But  your  judgment  is  not  a  well-informed 
one.  Those  pictures  have  an  intensity  that 
pleases,  a  certain  passion  of  endeavor  and  triumph, 
and  the  coloring  is  good.  But  does  it  occur  to 
you  that  such  pictures  must  be  measured  with 
Rosa  Bonheur's  '  Horse  Fair,'  if  they  are  to  be 
properly  judged  as  works  of  art?  " 

"  Yes,"  he  answered  with  emphasis,  "  and  I 
have  made  that  comparison.  The  result  of  it  is 
altogether  in  favor  of  your  pictures.  The  '  Horse 
Fair '  is  the  most  overvalued  picture  in  existence. 
It  is  a  pleasing  work,  of  course,  but  so  are  many 
thousands  of  other  paintings.  It  is  overvalued 
because  it  is  the  work  of  a  woman.  Those  who 
look  upon  it  say,  '  That  is  a  wonderful  picture  for 
a  woman  to  have  painted ! '  After  a  little  while 
they  say,  '  That  is  a  wonderful  picture,'  and  they 
leave  off  the  qualifying  clause.  I  do  not  think 
the  picture  really  great.  I  think  its  reputation 
is  largely  based  upon  the  fact  that  a  woman 
painted  it,  and  is,  in  effect,  a  reflection  upon 


26o      LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

women  as  inferior  to  men.  It  is  as  if  one  should 
exhibit  a  work  done  by  a  child  and  challenge 
admiration  of  it  upon  the  ground  that  it  was  the 
production  of  a  ten-year-old.  Anyhow,  I  am 
going  to  subject  critical  judgment  to  a  test." 

"How?" 

"  By  offering  those  two  horse  pictures  of  yours 
as  a  gift  to  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art. 
It  is  my  conviction  that  they  are  in  all  respects 
superior  to  Rosa  Bonheur's  *  Horse  Fair/  but  as 
they  bear  no  distinguished  name,  as  that  does, 
the  committee  may  perhaps  reject  them.  At  any 
rate,  I  purpose  to  put  the  committee  '  up  against 
it '  and  to  find  out  how  much  the  members  of  it 
really  know  about  pictures.  The  truth  is,  we 
have  no  such  thing  as  competent  criticism,  either 
of  art  or  of  letters  in  this  country.  Let  me  tell 
you  an  illustrative  story.  When  William  Hamilton 
Gibson  published  one  of  his  masterfully  illustrated 
books,  the  most  pretentious  and  the  most  highly 
esteemed  art  critic  of  the  time  assailed  it  bitterly. 
He  was  the  man  who  had  challenged  the  genuine- 
ness of  some  of  the  collections  in  the  Museum  of 
Art  itself.  He  said  in  print  of  Gibson's  book  that 


IN  THE  PORCH  213 

object  to  my  impertinence  in  insisting  that  you 
shall  also  do  the  work  agreed  upon.  Isn't  that 
about  the  size  of  it  ?  " 

"  Well,  sir,  you  see,  if  we  is  to  be  drove  an'  has 
to  ask  leave,  we  ain't  free." 

"  I  see,"  answered  Rhett.  Then  adopting  the 
Socratic  method,  he  asked : 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it,  Isaac  — 
you  and  the  others  ?  " 

"  Well,  sir,  they's  to  be  a  camp-meetin'  beginnin' 
to-morrow,  an'  we've  decided  to  be  thar." 

"Very  well,"  answered  Rhett,  "I  have  no 
objection  to  that.  But  where  do  you  purpose  to 
go  after  the  camp- meeting  is  over?  " 

"  W'y,  we'll  come  back  home  ag'in,  of  course." 

Warren  Rhett  waited  awhile  before  replying. 
Finally  he  said : 

"  Isaac,  you  had  better  go  now  and  tell  the 
folks  that  if  they  go  on  strike,  as  they  are  planning 
to  do,  —  I  mean  if  they  quit  the  plantation  for  a 
single  day  in  protest  against  my  insistence  upon 
honest  work  for  honest  pay,  not  one  man,  woman, 
or  child  of  them  shall  ever  come  back  so  long  as 
I  live.  Do  you  hear?" 


2i4     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  But  Mas'  Warren,  we  ain't  got  nowhere  else 
to  go.  Whar  else  is  we  to  live  ?  " 

"  I  really  don't  know,"  answered  the  young 
man.  He  paused  to  let  the  thought  soak  in  as  it 
were.  Then  he  said : 

"  You  and  the  rest  are  free,  you  know.  You 
can  go  anywhere  you  please.  But  of  course  I  am 
free  too,  and  I  tell  you  if  you  and  the  others  quit 
work  for  camp-meeting  or  for  anything  else, 
you  cannot  come  back  to  Mannamac,  now  or 
hereafter." 

Isaac  was  in  a  daze.  He  could  not  understand. 
He  could  not  see  how  it  could  be  that  men  legally 
free  could  still  be  held  to  an  obligation  by  any 
other  man.  In  the  meanwhile  Robert  had  arrived 
and  had  modestly  seated  himself  upon  the  steps, 
near  his  old  playfellow  and  later  benefactor, 
Warren  Rhett.  At  the  smallest  hint  from  Rhett 
he  took  up  the  r61e  of  instructor  to  his  fellow 
black  man. 

"  Listen  to  me,  Isaac,"  he  commanded.  "  You 
and  the  rest  of  you  do  not  understand  what 
freedom  means.  Let  me  explain  it  a  little.  I  am 
a  free  man,  but  when  I  get  on  board  a  railroad 


IN  THE  PORCH  215 

train  I  must  pay  my  fare.  If  I  don't  the  conductor 
will  put  me  off,  and  serve  me  right,  too.  You  and 
the  rest  of  the  folks  are  living  on  this  plantation 
under  contract  to  cultivate  it.  If  you  don't  do 
your  work  you've  no  right  to  your  wages,  your 
rations,  or  your  rent-free  houses.  Can't  you 
understand  that?  Can't  you  understand  that  no 
man  is  free  enough  to  get  all  that  he  thinks 
coming  to  him  and  give  nothing  in  return  ?  Your 
notion  of  freedom  is  all  wrong.  No  man  in  all  the 
world  was  ever  free  in  the  way  you  regard  free- 
dom. Here  is  our  good  friend  Mas'  Warren  — if 
he  will  let  me  call  him  by  the  name  that  was  dear 
to  me  in  our  boyhood  days  —  even  he  isn't  free 
in  any  such  fashion  as  that.  He  is  a  rich  man  I 
hear  —  at  any  rate  he  is  a  prosperous  one  —  and 
I'm  glad  of  that  —  but  even  he  cannot  do  as  he 
pleases.  He  must  respect  the  rights  of  others, 
and  especially  he  must  respect  and  fulfil  his  own 
obligations.  He  takes  contracts  to  build  railroads, 
dig  tunnels,  construct  bridges,  and  the  like.  Do 
you  imagine  for  a  moment  that  he  is  free  to  leave 
his  work  undone  and  still  expect  the  people  on 
the  other  side  to  pay  him  what  their  contract 


2i 6     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

calls  for  ?  That  isn't  all  of  it.  If  he  should  refuse 
or  neglect  to  do  what  he  has  agreed  to  do,  the 
people  on  the  other  side  of  the  contract  would 
not  only  have  the  right  to  refuse  to  pay  him  any- 
thing —  they  could  go  into  court  and  compel  him 
to  pay  them  damages  for  his  failure  to  fulfil  his 
obligations." 

"  For  the  Lawd's  sake !  "  ejaculated  Isaac,  to 
whom  this  was  a  totally  new  view  of  human 
obligations. 

"  It  is  as  I  tell  you,"  said  Robert,  "  and  it  is 
time  for  you  and  others  like  you  to  try  to  under- 
stand what  freedom  and  liberty  mean.  If  you 
like  I'll  lecture  to  all  of  you  on  that  subject  and 
try  to  make  you  understand  it.  But  in  the  mean- 
while I  strongly  and  earnestly  advise  you  to  do 
your  duty  like  men,  to  fulfil  your  contract  of  work, 
and  to  obey  the  orders  of  a  man  who  has  a  right 
to  give  orders  at  Mannamac." 

"  Well,  for  the  Lawd's  sake !  "  exclaimed  Isaac 
as  he  shambled  away.  "  An'  Bob's  a  nigga'  too  I 
Well,  who'd  a  thought  it !  I  reckon  may  be,  just, 
for  safety  like,  us  folks  had  better  let  the  camp- 
meetin'  be  what  they  call  '  slenderly  attended.'  " 


IN  THE  PORCH  217 

After  he  had  gone  Colonel  Forrest,  the  old 
Virginian  planter,  asked : 

"  Don't  you  think  you  are  rather  hard  on  the 
poor  darkeys,  Warren  ?  " 

"  Yes,  of  course  I  am.  But  it  is  for  their  own 
good.  It  is  the  one  thing  needed  —  the  one  thing 
that  will  improve  and  upbuild  the  race.  The 
trouble  is  that  the  rest  of  you  do  not  recognize 
and  insist  upon  the  fundamental  law  of  all  prog- 
ress —  human  and  other." 

"Just  what  do  you  mean  by  that,  please?" 
asked  Hazel. 

"  Well,  my  theory  is  based  upon  a  law  of  nature. 
From  the  lowest  to  the  highest  forms  of  life  — 
from  the  primordial  germ  to  the  ultimate  de- 
velopment of  human  genius  —  from  the  polyp 
to  the  poet,  from  the  oyster  to  the  orator,  from 
the  stamen  to  the  statesman — all  progress  is 
conditioned  upon  struggle,  and  due  to  it,  directly. 
Without  struggle  there  is  no  strenuosity  and 
without  strenuosity  there  is  no  advancement,  no 
betterment,  no  development.  In  the  case  of 
human  beings  even  more  than  in  the  case  of 
lower  forms  of  animated  existence  this  necessity 


218     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

is  imperative,  for  the  reason  that  human  beings 
have  mastered  other  secrets  of  survival  than  that 
of  fitness.  They  know  how  to  take  unfair  advan- 
tage of  nature  in  a  thousand  ways  that  are  im- 
possible to  plants  and  the  lower  animals. 

"  But  the  law  of  progress  is  absolutely  inexor- 
able. It  is  the  law  of  a  struggle  for  existence  and 
the  survival  of  the  fittest  —  not  necessarily  the 
best,  but  those  best  fitted  to  survive  under  the 
conditions  of  the  struggle.  An  unfair  advantage 
counts  for  just  as  much  as  a  fair  advantage,  and 
often  the  human  being  profits  by  it." 

"  Just  how  do  you  mean?  "  asked  Hazel,  who 
seemed  excitedly  interested.  "  There  is  a  thought 
behind  that,  or  I  am  mistaken." 

"  Yes,  there  is  a  thought  behind  that,"  he 
answered.  "  But  the  thought  is  not  mine.  It  is 
Alexander  Von  Humboldt's.  He  characterized 
the  banana  as  '  the  curse  of  the  tropics,'  on  the 
ground  that  it  relieved  tropical  men  of  the  neces- 
sity of  work,  of  struggle,  of  enterprise  of  any  kind. 
It  is  true,  as  he  said,  that  the  man  who  plants  one 
banana-tree,  by  that  act  provides  food  for  himself 
and  his  descendants  to  the  tenth  generation,  in  a 


IN  THE  PORCH  219 

climate  where  clothes  and  shelter  are  not  really 
necessary  to  comfort.  The  result  is  that  having 
planted  the  banana-tree,  the  man  excuses  himself 
from  all  further  work  in  the  world,  and  his 
children  do  the  same  thing  after  him.  Emerson 
has  somewhere  said  that  every  man  is  as  lazy  as 
he  dares  be.  That  isn't  quite  true,  but  it  suggests 
a  truth  of  human  nature.  The  man  who  has 
planted  his  banana-tree  is  apt  to  quit.  His  son 
and  heir  is  apt  to  regard  the  paternal  banana-tree 
as  inheritance  enough.  In  other  words,  ease  of 
living  is  a  paralyzing  influence,  a  check  upon 
endeavor,  a  ministry  of  indolence.  Now  knowing 
the  negro  as  I  do  —  having  known  him  from  my 
youth  up  —  I  am  convinced  that  ease  of  living  in 
this  southern  land  of  ours  has  been  his  curse,  just 
as  it  is  the  curse  of  the  poor  whites.  Their 
standards  of  living  are  low.  Their  wants  are  few, 
and  they  find  it  easy  to  supply  them  with  very 
little  effort.  Consequently  they  make  the 
minimum  of  endeavor,  and  you  planters  —  by 
your  indolent  neglect  of  insistence  —  render  the 
negro's  problem  of  indolence  easier.  What  I 
contend  is  that  all  this  is  excessively  bad  for  the 


220     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

negro,  as  it  certainly  is  for  the  poor  white.  I 
hold  that  the  negro  or  the  poor  white  will  never 
and  can  never  advance  in  civilization  till  he  shall  — 
in  the  expressive  slang  of  the  time  —  be  put  *  up 
against  it.'  Not  until  he  has  to  fight  for  his  place 
in  the  world,  will  he  amount  to  anything  or 
achieve  anything.  At  the  north,  and  particularly 
in  New  York  City,  where  rents  are  very  high  and 
must  be  paid  on  the  first  day  of  the  month,  the 
negro  is  constantly  *  up  against  it.'  He  must 
pay  his  rent  or  get  out.  He  must  pay  for  his 
meats  and  his  vegetables,  or  go  without  them. 
In  a  word  he  must  hustle  and  he  does  so,  and  he 
is  the  better  man  for  it.  But  here  at  Mannamac 
and  on  other  plantations  round  about,  no  such 
conditions  have  prevailed.  The  negroes  here 
have  had  no  need  to  hustle.  Their  living  has 
come  to  them  easily.  They  can  live  whether  they 
work  or  not.  I  think  these  conditions  very  un- 
fortunate for  them,  and  so  far  as  I  can  I  purpose 
to  change  them.  I  have  the  kindliest  possible 
feeling  for  the  negroes  —  " 

At   that  point  Bob — or     the    Rev.     Robert 
Ryman,     D.D.  —  distinctly    chuckled.     Rhett, 


IN  THE  PORCH  221 

thus  interrupted  in  his  discourse,  asked,  "  What 
are  you  laughing  at,  Bob  ?  " 

"  If  I  laughed  it  was  unseemly,"  answered  the 
man,  "  or  at  any  rate  my  laughter  only  reflected 
my  joy.  Let  me  tell  the  gentlemen  and  gentle- 
women here  —  you  taught  me  to  say  gentlewomen 
instead  of  ladies,  and  the  word  is  better  —  what 
I  know  of  your  attitude  in  this  matter.  I  was 
born  a  slave  —  just  about  a  year  before  Mr. 
Rhett  was  born.  He  and  I  played  together  and 
I  want  to  say,  he  always  played  fair." 

"  Don't  lay  it  on  too  thick,  Bob,"  Rhett  said, 
interrupting.  "  Remember  that  I  still  have 
some  scraps  and  shreds  of  modesty  left,  and  I 
really  think  you  ought  to  spare  them." 

"  As  I  was  saying,"  said  Bob,  beginning  where 
he  had  left  off,  "  he  always  played  fair.  Well, 
he  did  more  than  that.  He  played  more  than 
fair.  He  sent  me  to  school.  After  that  he  sent 
me  to  college.  That  was  after  he  had  to  earn  his 
own  money  by  hard  work,  and  the  money  didn't 
come  easily  either.  He  sent  me  to  a  preparatory 
school  and  then  to  Harvard,  and  now  I  want  to 
tell  you  ladies  and  gentlemen  something  that  he'll 


222      LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

never  tell  you,  —  no,  Mas'  Warren,  you  can't 
shut  me  up  now  "  —  this  in  response  to  a  manifes- 
tation on  Rhett's  part  —  "he  lived  on  tea  and 
crackers  in  New  York  in  order  to  give  me  my 
education.  Sometimes  he  couldn't  afford  the 
tea  and  sometimes  he  couldn't  afford  the  crackers, 
and  once  he  pawned  his  own  fraternity  pin  —  it 
had  a  diamond  in  it  —  to  help  me  make  a  man 
of  myself.  He  wants  me  to  shut  up  now,  but  I 
won't.  I'm  going  to  tell  God  all  about  all  those 
things  when  the  judgment-day  comes  and  leave 
it  to  God  to  say  what  ought  to  be  done  to  him 
on  account  of  them." 

The  situation  was  emotionally  strained.  Hazel 
relieved  it  with  a  tact  beyond  measure.  She  rose 
from  her  chair  and  advanced  to  the  negro,  who 
was  standing  now  and  full  of  enthusiasm.  She 
shook  hands  with  him  fervently  and  said : 

"  Thank  you !  Tell  God  all  that  when  your 
chance  comes.  But  now  we  want  to  hear  your 
views  about  the  education  of  negroes." 

Her  little  speech  gave  time  for  the  swallowing 
of  lumps  in  several  throats,  and  Robert  was 
prompt  to  respond. 


IN  THE  PORCH  223 

"  Well,  Miss  Hazel,"  he  said,  using  the  Vir- 
ginian negro's  license  to  address  any  young 
woman  by  her  first  name  with  the  respectful  pre- 
fix of  "  Miss."  "  Well,  Miss  Hazel,  that  is  the 
work  I'm  trying  to  do  in  the  world,  and  naturally 
I've  thought  a  good  deal  about  it.  But  Mr.  Rhett 
—  I  mean  Mas'  Warren,  for  he'll  always  be  that 
to  me  —  knows  more  about  it  than  I  do,  and  it  is 
more  fitting  that  he  should  speak.  He  and  I 
have  talked  over  the  subject,  and  we  are  fully 
agreed  regarding  it.  So  let  him  speak  in  my 
stead." 

"  No,"  answered  Rhett.  "  It's  your  turn  to 
shoot,  Robert,  as  we  used  to  say  when  we  played 
marbles.  You  have  had  practical  experience  in 
negro  education  —  I  have  nothing  better  than 
theories." 

"  Well,  I  don't  mind  telling  you  what  I  think 
if  you  want  to  hear.  I  reckon  you  can't  take  a 
whole  race  of  ignorant  and  half -developed  people 
by  the  nape  of  the  neck,  and  lift  them  up,  and  it 
seems  to  me  that  that's  what  people  have  been 
trying  to  do  with  the  negroes. 

"  I  reckon  the  average  intelligence  of  any  race, 


224     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

the  average  morality,  the  average  education, 
isn't  very  high.  I  reckon  if  you  averaged  it  up  on 
the  east  side  of  New  York,  or  on  the  west  side  for 
that  matter,  you'd  not  find  the  level  very  high. 
I  reckon  if  you  averaged  up  the  farmers  of  the 
north  you'd  get  a  rather  low  percentage  of  culture. 
And  if  you  ruled  out  a  few  highly  achieving  in- 
dividuals in  each  case,  your  average  would  be  very 
much  lower  than  it  is.  It  is  by  virtue  of  a  few 
individuals  in  each  case  that  the  average  is  kept 
up.  Now  I  really  suppose  that  the  only  thing  to 
be  done  in  any  such  matter  is  to  give  every  man 
a  chance,  and  to  let  the  average  take  care  of  itself. 
As  to  the  negroes,  it  is  obvious  that  only  here  and 
there  there  is  one  of  them  capable  of  highly 
intellectual  development.  The  fundamental 
trouble  is  misdirected  endeavor  —  an  effort  to 
educate  all  alike,  regardless  of  their  individual 
capacities.  There  is  a  fetich  in  education  as  in 
most  other  things.  If  I  understand  the  purpose 
of  education  it  is  to  develop  and  cultivate  each 
man's  capacity,  and  to  make  the  most  of  what  he's 
fit  for.  What  is  good  for  one  man  in  the  way  of 
education  may  be  very  bad  for  another.  What 


IN  THE  PORCH  225 

brings  out  and  makes  the  most  of  one  man's 
capacities  may  cripple  the  capacities  of  another 
man.  The  accepted  theory  of  education  is  that 
all  men  should  be  taught  the  same  things  in  the 
same  way  and  out  of  the  same  books.  It  seems 
to  me  all  wrong.  It  seems  to  me  that  some  people 
could  be  best  educated  without  any  books  at  all. 
It  seems  to  me  a  sad  mistake  to  spoil  a  good  car- 
penter trying  to  make  a  rhetorician  of  him.  I 
have  a  clipping  here  from  the  New  York  Sun  — 
a  brilliant  editorial  —  which  sets  forth  some  in- 
teresting historical  facts  and  presents  what  I 
regard  as  the  true  philosophy  of  negro  education 
better  than  I  can  do  it.  Miss  Hazel,  you've  got 
better  eyes  than  mine,  would  you  mind  reading 
it?" 

Hazel  took  the  clipping  and  standing  close  to 
one  of  the  shaded  lamps  read  aloud  as  follows : 

CONCERNING   NEGRO  EDUCATION 

It  will  perhaps  astonish  a  great  many  com- 
placent and  unsuspecting  persons  in  this  part  of 
the  country  to  hear  it  said  that  a  very  considerable 
number,  if  not  a  majority,  of  the  old-time  great 
Southern  slaveholders  were  heartily  opposed  to 
"  the  institution."  Such  is  the  truth,  neverthe- 


226     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

less,  as  every  one  familiar  with  the  inner  history 
of  that  section  knows  full  well.  There  is  no  room 
for  argument.  When  we  enter  the  domain  of 
imperishable  fact  we  shake  from  our  heels  the 
dust  of  controversy.  But  a  still  more  novel  and 
disturbing  truth  is  that  long  before  the  civil  war 
certain  Louisiana  landowners  of  the  magnificent, 
patriarchal  type  conceived  a  plan  for  "  educating  " 
their  slaves,  so  wise,  so  enlightened,  and,  as  it 
proved,  so  substantially  beneficent,  that  modern 
paternalism  could  advantageously  hark  back  to 
it  at  least  in  some  particular  respects. 

To  put  it  briefly,  we  may  say  that  long  before 
"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  "  saw  the  light,  and  while 
as  yet  the  great  slaveholding  magnates  of  the 
South  regarded  slavery  as  an  establishment 
beyond  the  reach  of  social  agitation  or  political 
vicissitude,  wise  and  kindly  members  of  the  ruling 
class  had  conceived  and  set  in  operation  a  system 
whereby  slavery  could  be  robbed  of  all  its  most 
repulsive  aspects  and  transformed  into  an  agency 
of  exaltation.  They  were  not  doctrinaires,  these 
well-meaning  men,  but  they  loved  their  slaves  and 
they  felt  it  their  duty,  as  it  already  was  their  earnest 
wish,  to  lift  them  out  of  the  mire  of  degradation 
and  subjection,  if  such  a  thing  were  possible. 
Thus  it  came  about  that  schools  were  established 
on  hundreds  of  plantations;  nothing  like  our 
modern  schools,  of  course,  but  just  plain,  simple 
agencies  of  experiment  and  observation.  The 
idea  was  to  disclose  the  special  gift,  proclivity,  or 
talent  of  the  individual,  not  to  set  up  a  Procrustes 
bed  in  the  way  of  a  smug  curriculum.  The  idea 


IN  THE  PORCH  227 

was  to  encourage  and  disclose  any  special  talent 
and  proclivity  in  the  individual.  The  young  were 
subjected  to  a  benevolent  and  enlightened  in- 
quisition. There  was  no  cut  and  dried  formula  of 
appraisement.  The  born  artisan  was  not  drilled 
to  death  in  botany  or  ethics;  the  appointed 
cooper,  mason,  or  blacksmith  was  not  required  to 
qualify  as  a  pianist  or  a  mathematician.  Special 
gifts  and  tendencies  were  ascertained,  developed, 
perfected.  And  so  it  followed  that  thousands  of 
slaves  became  bricklayers,  carpenters,  black- 
smiths, tailors,  engineers,  sugar  boilers,  artisans 
of  every  kind,  even  musicians,  and  were  permitted 
to  pursue  their  vocations  in  perfect  freedom, 
merely  paying  to  their  masters  a  small  percentage 
on  the  assessed  value  of  the  individual.  In  all 
respects  they  were  at  liberty.  They  lived  where 
they  pleased,  acquired  their  own  homes,  and 
accumulated  their  own  properties,  and  in  all 
these  respects  were  protected  by  the  law.  It  is  a 
fact  that  the  negro  who  dwelt  under  this  dispen- 
sation, seventy-five  years  ago,  enjoyed  more 
actual  freedom  and  received  more  substantial 
consideration  than  do  his  descendants  of  to-day, 
who  strut  about,  inflated  and  misled  by  the 
worthless  "  education  "  of  the  latter-day  public 
schools. 

A  detailed  record  of  the  fruits  of  this  system 
would  astound  the  philanthropists  of  the  present 
generation.  It  is  a  fact,  notwithstanding,  that 
the  slaveholders  of  the  last  century  did  more  to 
uplift  and  help  the  negro  than  all  the  doctrinaires 
and  societies  and  governments  of  our  day  are 


228     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

doing  or  are  likely  to  do ;  and  that,  considering 
the  results  in  view,  is  a  very  inadequate  and  pallid 
statement  of  the  case.1 

"  There  you  have  my  view,"  said  Warren 
Rhett.  "  I  believe  heartily  in  the  education  of 
the  negro,  but  I  do  not  at  all  believe  in  his  mis- 
education.  I  once  went  through  the  establish- 
ment of  Robert  Hoe  &  Co.,  the  greatest  manu- 
facturers of  wonderfully  complicated  printing 
machinery  in  the  world.  They  have  to  educate 
their  own  workmen.  To  that  end  they  maintain 
a  night-school,  and  in  order  that  their  two  or  three 
hundred  boys  may  attend  it,  they  give  all  of  them 
supper  at  a  restaurant  every  evening.  The 
managing  partner  of  that  great  firm  once  said  to 
me  in  answer  to  a  question : 

"  '  I'd  rather  have  a  boy  with  no  education  at  all 
than  a  boy  who  has  been  graduated  from  the 
grammar  school  or  from  the  high  school.' 

"  When  I  asked  him  why,  he  told  me,  sub- 
stantially this : 

"  *  The  boy  who  has  been  through  the  schools 

1  This  statement  of  historical  fact,  with  its  enlightening 
comment,  is  reprinted  here  with  the  generous  permission 
of  the  editor  of  the  New  York  Sun.  —  AUTHOR. 


HAZEL'S  STORY  277 

for  by  the  surgeons.  By  that  time  his  mother  had 
secured  a  private  room  for  him  in  the  hospital  and 
had  sent  for  three  of  the  most  eminent  men  in  the 
profession  to  attend  him.  Many  days  passed 
before  he  was  sufficiently  recovered  to  begin  to 
have  wants.  By  that  time  I  was  quite  myself 
again,  thanks  to  the  tender  care  of  his  mother, 
to  whose  home  I  had  been  taken. 

"  His  first  want  was  to  see  me,  and  I  went  with 
his  mother  to  see  him,  every  day  when  the  doctors 
would  permit  the  visit.  Sometimes  they  forbade 
it,  because  of  a  fever  that  beset  him. 

"  At  last  he  was  given  up  to  die.  The  doctors 
could  not,  or  would  not,  say  positively  that  he 
must  die,  but  they  equally  refused  to  give  us  any 
hope  that  he  might  live.  It  was  a  terrible  time, 
and  the  most  terrible  part  of  it  was  that  we  were  so 
helpless.  We  could  do  nothing  to  save  the  poor 
fellow's  life  or  to  alleviate  his  sufferings. 

"  After  awhile  he  began  himself  to  anticipate 
the  worst.  He  lost  all  hope  of  recovery  and  began 
planning  to  arrange  his  affairs  with  a  view  to  his 
death.  First  of  all  he  made  a  will.  I  do  not 
know  what  its  provisions  were,  but  presently  he 


278     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

became  apprehensive  that  it  might  not  be  carried 
out,  - —  that  it  might  be  set  aside  on  the  ground 
that  he  was  not  in  his  right  mind  when  he  made  it. 
For  three  or  four  days  he  raved  and  raged  about 
that.  Then  suddenly  one  day  an  idea  was  born 
in  his  brain.  Speaking  to  me  he  said :  *  If  you 
were  my  wife,  Hazel,  even  the  abrogation  of  my 
will  couldn't  rob  you  of  everything.  You  would 
still  have  your  dower  rights.  That's  a  good 
thought  and  a  glad  one.  You  must  send  for  a 
preacher  or  a  magistrate  or  the  mayor  or  an  alder- 
man to  marry  us  at  once.'  I  half  promised  that  I 
would  do  so  on  the  morrow,  but  he  angrily  re- 
sented the  suggestion.  '  To-morrow  may  be  too 
late,'  he  said.  '  This  thing  must  be  done  now, 
now,  NOW  ! ' 

"  His  mother  was  with  us  at  the  time  and  so 
was  his  physician.  The  physician,  in  answer  to 
the  mother's  question,  said  that  any  baffling  of  his 
desire  might  hasten  his  death,  and  must  certainly 
render  his  last  hours  unhappy.  Thereupon  the 
mother,  in  tears,  begged  me  to  consent  to  his  wish, 
in  order  that  he  might  at  least  die  happy.  She 
had  completely  lost  hope.  She  regarded  his  death 


HAZEL'S  STORY  279 

as  a  thing  certain  and  very  near  at  hand.  She 
urged  me,  therefore,  to  consent,  saying,  '  It  will 
be  nothing  more  than  a  form,  dear,  and  it  will  not 
even  change  your  name,  which  is  the  same  as  his.' 

"  In  wretchedness  and  despair  I  consented. 
We  sent  for  somebody  —  to  this  day  I  don't  know 
whether  it  was  a  clergyman  or  a  magistrate  or  an 
alderman  —  and  there,  by  what  we  supposed  was 
his  dying  bed,  he  and  I  were  married." 

At  this  point  the  narrative  was  interrupted  by 
the  arrival  of  a  carriage  full  of  callers,  among 
them  Isabel  Bandon,  who,  upon  learning  that 
Kate  was  to  return  with  Hallie  Harvey  in  time  for 
dinner,  decided  to  accept  the  invitation  that  Vir- 
ginian hospitality  always  keeps  open,  and  remain 
for  that  meal.  The  fact  that  her  friends  declared 
it  impossible  for  them  to  stay  made  no  change  in 
her  resolution. 

"  Mr.  Rhett  is  a  rider,"  she  said,  "  and  he  has 
an  excellent  habit  of  keeping  good  mounts  in  his 
stable.  Doubtless  he  will  see  me  home  after 
supper." 

Presently  in  an   aside,  Hazel  said  to  Rhett: 

"  I  have  all  I  can  bear.    Please  do  not  ask  me 


28o     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

anything  about — you  know  what — till  some 
other  time.  Let's  be  just  commonplace  and  un- 
emotional." 

He  pressed  her  hand  for  answer,  and  household 
affairs  became  thereafter  the  profoundest  subjects 
of  discussion.  Then  it  was  that  .the  talk  about 
mushrooms  arose. 


XIX 

KATE'S  STRATAGEM 

AFTER  the  mushrooms  had  been  secured 
and  Hazel  had  prepared  them  under 
Rhett's  direction  and  Isabel's  criticism, 
the  three,  with  warm  wraps  about  them,  seated 
themselves  in  the  broad  porch  to  await  the  coming 
of  Kate  with  Hallie  Harvey.  The  talk  was  of 
books,  music,  art,  and  the  problems  of  human 
life.  On  these  latter  Isabel  Bandon  was  equipped 
with  a  complete  "  line  "  of  opinions  —  professor- 
made,  and  thoroughly  "  tailored  to  fit  "  by  a 
female  lecturer  who  knew  all  that  it  is  possible  to 
know  about  marriage  and  divorce  and  sociolog- 
ical servant  girls  and  all  the  rest  of  it.  Isabel 
Bandon  had  taken  her  degree  as  Ph.  D.  Why 
then  should  she  not  display,  for  admiration,  her 
remarkable  collection  of  opinions,  all  of  them  war- 
ranted not  to  come  out  in  the  wash  ?  They  were 
281 


282     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

second-hand  opinions,  of  course.  Most  people's 
opinions  are  so,  but  she  thought  them  "  as  good 
as  new,"  and  confidently  spread  them  out  for  ex- 
hibition as  her  own. 

After  some  other  things  had  been  discussed,  she 
recalled  —  in  order  to  controvert  it  —  Warren 
Rhett's  suggestion  that  the  education  needed  by 
the  great  majority  of  negroes  and  "  poor  whites  " 
at  the  South  was  industrial  and  not  scholastic. 
She  reminded  him  of  what  he  had  said  on  the 
evening  before,  and  sharply  challenged  it. 

"  Yes,"  he  said,  "  I  am  convinced  that  unde- 
veloped people,  backward  people  —  and  even  the 
majority  of  people  everywhere  —  are  incapable 
of  benefiting  by  instruction  in  the  routine  of  the 
schools  beyond  the  rudiments.  Only  here  and 
there  a  negro  or  a  '  poor  white '  has  a  brain  suf- 
ficiently alert  to  profit  by  the  education  of  the 
schools  and  colleges  as  they  are  at  present  consti- 
tuted. I  would  give  to  every  one  of  such  all  of 
scholastic  education  he  cares  to  receive  — " 

Hazel,  whose  soul  was  in  instinctive  antago- 
nism to  Isabel  Bandon,  interrupted  him  to  say: 

"You  did  that  in  Robert's  case." 


KATE'S  STRATAGEM  283 

Without  replying  he  went  on  to  say: 

"  For  the  great  majority  of  such  people  the 
education  needed  is  purely  industrial.  They 
should  be  taught  to  do  things  well  and  skilfully  — " 

"  In  order  that  their  '  betters '  may  profit  by 
their  skill,  I  suppose?"  said  Miss  Bandon. 

"  I  think  I  hadn't  that  in  mind,"  he  answered. 
"  We  all  profit  by  each  other's  work,  whether  it 
be  with  hand  or  brain,  but  there  is  a  great  deal 
more  hand  work  than  brain  work  to  be  done  in  the 
world,  and  there  are  more  people  capable  of  learn- 
ing how  to  do  hand  work  than  there  are  who  can 
do  head  work.  We  need  more  laborers  than 
bosses.  We  need  more  skilled  workmen  in  every 
handicraft  than  scholars,  professors,  or  learned 
men  of  any  other  sort,  and  as  the  great  majority 
are  intellectually  unfit  to  become  learned  men,  it 
seems  to  me  it  would  be  well  to  organize  our  sys- 
tems of  education  everywhere  with  reference  to 
those  two  facts.  Our  public  schools  everywhere 
—  yes,  and  our  colleges,  too  —  should  provide 
means  for  the  education  of  every  child  in  the  di- 
rection in  which  he  is  best  fit  to  do  something 
worth  while  in  the  world.  The  negroes,  especially, 


284     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

are  robbed  of  their  rights  in  not  being  industrially 
educated." 

"  Then  you  undervalue  culture  ?  " 
"  Not  at  all.  But  culture,  in  the  sense  in  which 
you  employ  the  term,  is  simply  impossible  to  the 
many,  and  particularly  is  this  true  of  negroes. 
Using  the  word  in  a  broader  and  truer  sense,  I 
think  that  if  a  boy  has  a  gift  of  mechanical  con- 
struction, or  carpentry,  or  blacksmith's  work, 
there  is  far  more  of  culture  for  him  in  an  educa- 
tion that  develops  that  gift  than  in  one  which 
teaches  him  the  classics  and  intellectual  philos- 
ophy and  psychology.  But  of  course,  I  am  a 
good  deal  of  a  barbarian,  probably  because  I  have 
lived  much  in  out-of-the-way  parts  of  the  world, 
and  have  had  to  direct  the  work  of  multitudes  of 
men  who  could  never  have  been  taught  the  rudi- 
ments of  scholastic  education,  even  if  they  had 
been  kept  in  school  from  infancy  to  age.  I  do  not 
wish  to  press  my  views  upon  you  for  acceptance. 
Let  us  talk  of  other  things." 

He  said  this  by  way  of  ending  a  discussion  which 
he  saw  might  assume  the  aspects  of  a  quarrel 
between  Hazel  and  the  other,  if  continued  too 


KATE'S  STRATAGEM  285 

long.  For  Hazel  had  interposed  some  pertinent 
words  now  and  then  which  suggested  a  mood  not 
placative.  But  the  woman  still  had  the  argu- 
mentum  ad  personam  in  reserve,  and  she  fired  it  as 
a  parting  shot : 

"  How  would  you  have  liked  it,  if  set  to  learn 
the  blacksmith's  trade?" 

"Oh,  I  liked  that  very  much,"  he  replied; 
"  and  I  positively  enjoyed  learning  the  trade  of  a 
machinist." 

"  But  how  do  you  mean  ?  You  use  past 
tenses." 

"  Well,  I  think  the  grammar  will  bear  in- 
spection. You  see  I  am  a  skilled  blacksmith 
and  a  skilled  machinist.  I  was  required  to  learn 
both  trades  thoroughly  in  connection  with  a 
course  which  I  took  in  mechanical  engineering, 
after  I  had  graduated  as  a  civil  engineer.  It  is 
a  great  comfort  to  me,  because,  you  see,  if  I 
ever  fail  as  an  engineer  and  contractor,  I  can 
always  get  good  work  and  good  wages  in  a 
blacksmith's  shop  or  a  machine  shop,  as  I  did 
many  times  while  waiting  for  a  start.  There 
comes  Kate." 


286     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

A  moment  later  he  was  at  the  carriage  door, 
assisting  Kate  and  Hallie  to  descend. 

It  was  perhaps  half  an  hour  later  that  Kate  got 
speech  apart  with  Hazel.  She  asked  eagerly: 
• "  Was  it  you  or  Warren  who  quarrelled  with 
Isabel  Bandon?  I  must  know  for  sure." 

"  Why  do  you  assume  that  there  was  any 
quarrel  ?  " 

"  Oh,  because  she  forgot  to  seek  a  ray  of  sun- 
light to  stand  in  as  we  approached  the  porch. 
Why,  her  whole  head  was  in  shadow,  and  of 
course  that  meant  she  was  agitated." 

"  Well,  you  may  possess  your  soul  in  patience. 
There  was  no  quarrel  —  though  I  don't  say  there 
wouldn't  have  been  one  between  her  and  me,  if 
Mr.  Rhett  hadn't  prevented  it  —  " 

"  So  you  still  call  him  Mr.  Rhett,  eh?  Then 
you  haven't  told  him  the  story  and  come  to  an  un- 
derstanding? Why,  I  went  away  on  purpose  to 
give  you  a  chance." 

"  I  have  told  him  part  of  the  story,"  the  girl 
answered,  "  but  we  were  interrupted  by  Miss 
Bandon's  coming,  and  I  have  promised  to  tell  him 
the  rest  at  some  other  time.  But  what  is  the  use, 


KATE'S  STRATAGEM  287 

Kate?  As  I  am  already  married,  of  course  any 
sort  of  '  understanding/  as  you  call  it,  between 
him  and  me,  is  simply  out  of  the  question.  I 
think  I  had  better  leave  for  New  York  very 
quietly  to-morrow  morning." 

"  How  preposterous !  Why,  there's  Warren  to  be 
considered,  and  my  hat  to  be  trimmed,  and  I've  two 
new  novels  for  us  to  read  together,  and  Warren 
would  be  sure  to  follow  you  to  get  the  rest  of  the 
story,  and  then  I  should  be  quite  alone  —  and  you 
know  Charley  is  coming  over  a  good  deal  nowa- 
days. By  the  way,  I  forgot.  He's  coming  to 
dinner  this  afternoon.  Do  gentlemen  really  en- 
joy the  sort  of  dinner  you're  going  to  give  us  - 
what  do  you  call  it  ?  'A  studio  affair  ?  '  Don't 
be  silly,  Hazel!" 

And  with  that  Kate,  without  waiting  for  an  an- 
swer, called  to  another  of  the  company,  thus  pre- 
cluding further  confidential  talk.  It  was  Kate's 
habit  thus  to  avoid  listening  when  she  did  not 
wish  to  hear  what  her  interlocutor  was  likely  to 
say. 

The  little  chafing-dish  dinner  was  so  great  a 
success  in  its  way  that  Kate  prompted  Charley 


288      LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

to  exact  a  promise  from  Hazel  to  repeat  it  a  week 
later.  Charley  demanded  the  promise  urgently 
and  enthusiastically,  and  after  it  was  given,  Kate 
said  to  Charley,  in  an  aside: 

"  That  settles  it." 

"  Settles  what,  Kate?" 

"  Why,  now  she  can't  go  away.  She  always 
keeps  her  promises." 

"  But  was  she  thinking  of  — " 

"  Don't  ask  me.  Miss  Bandon  is  listening. 
Hazel,  let's  adjourn  to  the  porch.  Is  it  warm 
enough,  Warren?  " 

"  No.  The  mercury  stands  well  below  sixty. 
I  ordered  the  parlor  fire  replenished  while  we  were 
at  dinner." 

So  the  adjournment  was  made  to  the  spacious 
oak- wainscoted  parlor,  where  a  fire  of  logs  six  feet 
long  and  "  larded,"  as  it  were,  with  sticks  of  the 
fat  pine  known  as  "  lightwood,"  rendered  lamps 
not  only  unnecessary  but  an  impertinence,  al- 
though the  dusk  was  coming  on  and  the  thick 
damask  curtains  were  closely  drawn.  Three  or 
four  other  guests  had  come  after  dinner  for  the 
evening,  so  that  the  company  was  numerous 


KATE'S  STRATAGEM  289 

enough  to  make  a  considerable  semicircle  in  front 
of  the  great,  roaring  fire,  with  Hazel  and  Kate 
crouching  down  on  the  hearth  by  the  chimney 
jambs,  after  their  favorite  fashion. 

No  sooner  was  the  company  comfortably  seated 
than  Isabel  Bandon  brought  up  again  the  subject 
that  had  been  talked  of  in  the  afternoon;  or 
rather,  she  returned  to  what  had  been  said  at  the 
end  of  that  talk. 

"  You  told  us  this  afternoon,  Mr.  Rhett,  that 
you  had  learned  the  blacksmith's  and  the  machin- 
ist's trades.  That,  of  course,  was  only  incidental 
to  professional  study?  " 

"  Incidental?  Yes,  in  a  way.  But  apart  from 
that  I  think  it  well  for  every  man  who  can,  to  learn 
a  trade,  to  acquire  some  definite  skill  by  which  he 
may  earn  a  living  if  need  be." 

"  What  I  was  thinking  was  that  of  course  your 
learning  of  those  trades  was  purely  perfunctory, 
and  therefore  superficial." 

"  Why,  how  can  that  be?  "  asked  Kate.  "  I 
don't  know  anything  about  it,  but  I  know  Warren 
never  does  anything  in  the  way  you  suggest.  If 
he  told  me  he  had  studied  millinery  I'd  shut  my 


290     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

eyes  and  let  him  trim  the  most  costly  hat  I  ever 
expected  to  own."  Here  Kate  went  off  at  a  tan- 
gent, after  her  habit.  "  By  the  way,  Warren, 
won't  you  write  for  some  oysters  ?  They're  in 
season  now  and  you'd  better  order  Back  Rivers, 
or  is  it  York  Rivers  that  we  all  like,  — or  may  be 
it's  Lynn  Havens  or  Cherry  Stones.  I  declare  I 
forget,  but  you'll  know  when  you  come  to  write 
for  them." 

"  I  have  already  anticipated  your  need,  Kate, 
and  have  ordered  a  barrel  to  be  shipped  twice  a 
week." 

Isabel  Bandon  regarded  this  interruption  as  an 
impertinence,  but  she  did  not  say  so.  She  re- 
turned to  her  thesis  instead. 

"  What  I  meant  to  suggest,  Mr.  Rhett,  was 
that  in  a  great  engineering  school  of  course  a  stu- 
dent would  not  be  expected  to  work  at  the  anvil, 
but  would  learn  by  observation  while  hired  black- 
smiths did  the  hard,  dirty  work.  Is  it  not  so?" 

"  Not  in  any  reputable  engineering  school  I  ever 
heard  of,"  he  answered.  "  Certainly  not  in  mine." 

"  You  mean  that  you  actually  did  the  work 
yourself  ?  " 


KATE'S  STRATAGEM  291 

"  Yes— every  sort  of  work  known  to  the  trade, 
and  we  had  to  do  every  part  and  detail  of  it  over 
and  over  again,  until  we  could  do  it  as  well  as  the 
master  blacksmiths  themselves.  Before  any  one 
of  us  could  get  his  diploma,  he  must  present  a  cer- 
tificate showing  that  he  was  a  competent  master 
blacksmith,  a  competent  steam-fitter,  and  a  com- 
petent machinist." 

"  Oh,  of  course,  in  the  way  of  professional 
study,  I  suppose  such  things  are  required." 

"  Not  only  required,  but  requisite.  No  man 
can  hope  to  succeed  as  a  mechanical  engineer  who 
does  not  know  those  trades  —  just  as  no  man  can 
become  a  civil  engineer  without  skill  in  mechan- 
ical drawing.  Besides,  it  is  a  good  thing  in  itself 
for  a  man  to  have  a  trade  to  fall  back  upon.  As 
I  told  you  before,  I  found  it  exceedingly  handy, 
while  I  was  waiting  for  practice  in  my  profession, 
to  earn  my  bread  and  butter  by  working  as  a 
journeyman  in  a  blacksmith's  shop." 

"  Did  you  work  for  wages  ?  " 

"  Yes,  certainly.  Why  else  should  I  have 
worked?" 

The  woman  paused.    Perhaps  she  was  care- 


LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

fully  framing  her  next  question.  However  that 
may  be,  Hazel  anticipated  her. 

"  Why  should  not  any  man  of  brains  and  char- 
acter be  proud  of  being  a  blacksmith  ?  "  she  asked. 
"  There  was  Elihu  Burritt,  the  learned  black- 
smith and  distinguished  writer,  who  gained  his 
wonderful  knowledge  of  languages  and  literature, 
with  his  forge,  his  anvil,  and  his  sledge  for  com- 
panions. Better  still,  there  is  the  Rev.  Dr.  Robert 
Collyer  —  whose  character  is  everywhere  an  in- 
fluence for  good,  whose  eloquence  has  persuaded 
many  thousands  to  right  living,  and  whose  very 
presence  is  a  benediction.  He  was  a  blacksmith, 
first  in  England  and  later  in  this  country.  It 
seems  to  me  we  ought  to  regard  blacksmithing 
as  one  of  the  learned  professions,  and  the  black- 
smith's shop  as  an  educational  institution  which 
turns  out  some  wonderful  graduates." 

Rhett  was  glad  when  Hazel  finished  her  sen- 
tence, and  by  way  of  preventing  further  discus- 
sion upon  what  he  felt  to  be  dangerous  lines,  now 
that  Hazel  had  joined  in  it,  he  quickly  asked: 

"  Kate,  may  we  not  have  some  music?  " 


XX 

HAZEL'S  INTERFERENCE 

WHEN  the  other  guests  had  gone  and 
the  time  came  for  Isabel  Bandon  to  set 
out  for  home  under  Rhett's  escort,  that 
gentleman  directed  a  dining-room  boy  to  order 
the  horses,  naming  Dolly  Varden  for  himself  and 
the  palfrey  for  his  guest.     Kate,  with  a  look  of 
absolutely  childish  innocence  in  her  face,  which 
covered  the  deepest  guile,  asked : 

"  Why  not  order  three  horses,  and  let  Hazel  go 
too  ?  It  would  be  lonely  for  you,  Warren,  coming 
home  by  yourself." 

The  look  that  flashed  for  the  tenth  of  a  second 
in  Isabel  Bandon's  face  and  then  disappeared 
before  a  ripple  of  smiles  was  quite  inscrutable  to 
Warren  and  Hazel.  But  Kate,  who  was  serenely 
and  justly  confident  of  her  judgments  in  cases 
that  involved  the  motives  of  women,  had  no  hes- 
293 


294     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

itation  in  interpreting  it  in  her  own  mind  as  mean- 
ing jealousy  and  vexation  of  spirit.  So  sure  was 
she  of  her  interpretation  that  she  had  anticipated 
some  such  manifestation  and  was  looking  for 
it  in  Isabel's  face  and  manner  while  making  her 
suggestion.  It  is  said  that  the  test  of  science  is  its 
ability  to  predict,  and  in  such  cases  as  this  Kate's 
predictions  very  rarely  failed.  Her  shrewd  worn* 
anly  instinct  stood  the  test  as  science. 

After  that  little  flash,  Isabel  Bandon  greeted 
the  suggestion  with  seeming  enthusiasm,  but 
proceeded  at  once  to  enlarge  it,  saying: 

"  But  why  shouldn't  we  all  go?  Surely  you 
and  Mr.  Danforth  will  enjoy  a  night  ride  better 
than  a  lonely  vigil  here  at  Mannamac?  " 

Again  Kate's  insight  into  the  woman's  motive 
was  fully  self-confident,  and  she  declined  the  invi- 
tation in  her  inconsequent  way,  saying: 

"  Oh,  no,  I  can't  go.  You  see  my  maid,  Diana, 
never  knows  what  to  do  when  I  am  away  of  an 
evening,  and  besides  she  has  gone  to  a  party  to  be 
gone  overnight,  and  still  again,  I'm  seriously 
afraid  there'll  be  a  frost  to-night  to  nip  our  deli- 
*  cious  late  peas.  So  of  course  I  can't  go." 


HAZEL'S  INTERFERENCE       295 

Warren  Rhett  and  Charley  Danforth  looked  at 
each  other  with  a  little,  low  chuckle  which  im- 
plied understanding  and,  perhaps,  admiration  for 
Kate's  adroit  innocence.  So  only  three  horses 
were  ordered. 

The  distance  between  Mannamac  and  Bandon- 
nais  was  about  four  miles.  As  the  evening  was 
cool  and  the  horses  fresh  the  party  of  three  cov- 
ered it,  mainly  at  an  easy  gallop,  within  about 
half  an  hour.  Either  the  road  was  longer,  as 
Warren  Rhett  and  Hazel  Cameron  returned,  or 
the  horses  were  less  energetic,  or  for  some  other 
reason,  the  time  consumed  in  the  return  ride  was 
a  full  hour.  Something  had  happened  just  as  the 
party  was  leaving  Mannamac,  which  became  the 
subject  of  a  very  earnest  conversation  between 
Hazel  and  Rhett  on  the  return  journey.  The 
happening  was  this : 

As  the  party  passed  the  stables,  old  Joe,  the 
most  faithful  of  the  negroes  on  the  plantation,  and 
the  one  of  highest  character,  stopped  the  caval- 
cade to  speak  with  the  master  of  the  plantation. 

"  We  got  the  ploughin'  done,"  he  reported, 
"but  so  many  of  the  folks  had  lef  in  the 


296     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

mawnin'  'thout  helpin'  with  the  ploughin'  at 
all,  we  had  to  work  clean  tell  dark  to  finish  it." 

"  Yes,  I  know,"  answered  Rhett.  "  The  folks 
held  a  meeting  last  night  and  decided  to  go  on 
strike." 

"  What's  that,  Mas1  Warren?" 

"  Why,  they  decided  that  they  wouldn't  obey 
orders,  that  they  wouldn't  accept  my  permission 
to  go  to  the  camp-meeting  after  the  ploughing  was 
done,  but  would  go  in  the  morning,  leaving  the 
ploughing  to  take  care  of  itself." 

"  How  did  you  know  that,  Mas'  Warren?" 

"  Oh,  I  take  pains  to  know  what  I  want  to 
know.  You  and  some  others,  faithful  to  your 
obligations,  stayed  to  do  the  ploughing.  Now  I 
want  you  to  come  to  me  in  the  morning  and  tell 
me,  not  the  names  of  those  who  went  on  strike  — 
because  they'd  call  you  a  telltale  if  you  did  that  — 
but  the  name  of  every  one  who  guided  a  plough 
to-day.  There's  an  extra  dollar  of  pay  for  each 
of  you,  and  as  the  new  Yankee  holiday,  Thanks- 
giving, is  proclaimed  in  Virginia  for  next  Thurs- 
day, I  intend  to  give  a  turkey  for  that  celebration 
to  each  of  the  men  who  ploughed.  There's  a  lot  of 


HAZEL'S  INTERFERENCE       297 

clapboards  under  the  shed  of  the  prize  barn,  and 
a  keg  of  nails  in  the  corn-house.  I  want  you  to- 
morrow to  take  them  and  board  up  the  doors  and 
windows  of  every  quarter  whose  occupant  has 
gone  to  the  camp-meeting  on  strike.  Put  all  their 
things  outside  first.  You  understand  they  are  not 
to  live  on  this  plantation  hereafter." 

"  But,  Mas'  Warren,  where  is  they  to  live?" 

"  I  don't  know.  They  must  look  to  that  them- 
selves. They  had  fair  warning  and  fair  terms. 
They  have  chosen  to  quit  the  plantation.  They 
must  stay  quit.  Good  night,  Joe.  Do  as  I  tell 
you  and  come  to  me  for  the  turkeys  and  the  extra 
pay  for  you  who  were  faithful." 

With  that  he  ended  the  conversation  and  set 
the  cavalcade  in  motion  again. 

He  and  Hazel  had  scarcely  cleared  the  house 
grounds  of  Bandonnais  on  their  return  journey, 
when  Hazel  brought  up  this  subject  for  discus- 
sion. The  horses  had  galloped  for  a  few  hundred 
yards,  when  by  mutual  consent  the  young  woman 
and  the  young  man  reined  them  down  to  a  walk. 
At  a  gallop  there  can  be  no  conversation  except 
in  ejaculations;  at  the  trot  there  can  be  none  that 


298    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

is  not  jolty ;  but  at  a  walk,  riders  may  calmly  dis- 
cuss the  profoundest  problems  of  the  universe. 

Soon  after  the  walking  gait  was  established, 
Hazel  entered  her  plea  for  mercy. 

"  I  wish  you  wouldn't  do  that,"  she  said. 

"You  wish  I  wouldn't  do  what,  Hazel? "he 
asked. 

"  Why,  what  you  said  to  old  Joe,  as  we  passed 
the  stables." 

"But  why  not?  It  is  simple  justice.  Those 
people  have  engaged  to  cultivate  Kate's  planta- 
tion for  her  in  return  for  a  certain  wage,  and  cer- 
tain rations,  together  with  rent  free  quarters  and 
garden  grounds  of  their  own.  They  knew  as  well 
as  I  did  how  necessary  it  was  to  get  this  plough- 
ing done,  in  order  that  a  winter  wheat  crop  may 
be  sowed  while  the  fit  weather  lasts ;  moreover,  I 
gave  them  special  orders  on  the  subject,  and  I  have 
a  right  to  give  orders  which,  under  their  contracts 
they  are  bound  to  obey.  They  know  perfectly  well 
that  under  their  contracts  they  have  no  right  to 
quit  their  work  without  permission;  yet  after  I 
had  given  them  permission  to  absent  themselves 
for  two  days  on  condition  that  they  should  first  do 


HAZEL'S   INTERFERENCE       299 

this  half -day's  ploughing,  or  less,  they  conspired 
to  reject  my  terms,  defy  me,  neglect  a  necessary 
and  by  no  means  onerous  duty,  and  go  off  in  the 
early  morning.  They  had  fair  warning  that  if 
they  did  that  they  could  not  return  to  the  planta- 
tion. It  seems  to  me  that  I  have  no  choice  but  to 
enforce  the  terms  I  have  prescribed." 

The  girl  did  not  immediately  reply  to  this.  She 
was  thinking  how  best  to  set  forth  the  thought  that 
was  in  her  mind.  Presently  Rhett  resumed : 

"  I  heartily  wish  every  negro  farm-hand  on  the 
plantation  had  joined  in  the  strike." 

"Why?"  she  asked. 

"  Why,  you  see  if  I  could  completely  rid  the 
place  of  them,  my  problem  would  be  easy. 
The  leases  of  little  places  to  the  renters  will  ex- 
pire on  the  first  of  January.  I  do  not  intend  to 
renew  them,  because  the  negroes  who  hold  them 
practically  pay  no  rent  at  all.  They  cultivate  no 
selling  crops  and  so,  in  effect,  Kate  gets  next  to 
nothing  at  all  from  their  use  of  her  land  and  her 
quarters.  I  have  investigated,  and  I  find  that  she 
has  paid  out  for  repairs  on  their  houses  nearly  a 
hundred  dollars  more  than  the  total  amount  of 


300    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

rent  paid  by  them.  That  system  must  cease  at 
the  end  of  the  year.  Now,  if  at  the  same  time  I 
could  rid  the  plantation  of  the  hired  negro  farm- 
hands, I  should  be  free  to  inaugurate  a  new  system 
—  one  that  would  render  Kate  financially  inde- 
pendent." 

"  Tell  me  about  that,  please." 

"  Why,  I  should  telegraph  to  my  partners  to 
hire  a  competent  Italian  gardener,  and  send  him 
to  me  with  a  sufficient  corps  of  assistants  hired 
and  controlled  by  himself,  —  under  the  padrone 
system,  you  know,  —  and  I  should  then  convert 
the  arable  part  of  the  plantation  into  a  vast  and 
skilfully  cultivated  truck  farm,  worked  for  all  it  is 
worth.  For  the  padrone  always  sees  to  it  that  the 
men  he  hires  do  their  work.  But  the  fact  that  five 
or  six  families  of  the  field  negroes  remain  faithful 
bothers  me.  You  see  I  can't  combine  the  two 
systems  of  labor,  and  of  course  I  cannot  cast  these 
faithful  ones  adrift.  I  think  I  shall  solve  the 
problem  in  a  heroic  way  by  giving  to  each  of  the 
faithful  ones  a  little  farm,  rent  free,  and  convert- 
ing the  rest  of  the  land  into  a  great  truck  farm  cul- 
tivated by  Italians  under  a  padrone  who  knows 


HAZEL'S  INTERFERENCE       301 

his  business.  That  will  pay  Kate  better  than  any 
other  disposition  of  the  matter  that  I  can  think 
of." 

"  You  do  not  consider  your  own  interest  in  the 
plantation,  then?" 

"  Practically  I  have  no  interest.  Kate  is 
younger  than  I  am,  and  she  is  an  exceedingly 
healthy  and  well-ordered  woman.  She  will  out- 
live me  almost  to  a  certainty.  At  any  rate  I  hope 
she  will.  She  has  a  life  estate.  My  interest  is  only 
a  reversionary  one  after  her  death.  That  need  not 
concern  me,  as  I  shall  probably  not  live  to  come 
into  the  property.  As  to  my  heirs,  at  present  they 
are  only  some  distant  cousins  whom  I  never  saw 
and  for  whom  I  do  not  care  a  wag  of  Dolly  Var- 
den's  ears.  Besides  I  am  abundantly  able  to 
take  care  of  myself,  without  waiting  for  a  dead 
woman's  shoes.  So  as  soon  as  I  succeed  in  putting 
this  plantation  upon  a  securely  paying  basis,  I 
intend  to  relinquish  to  Kate  all  my  reversionary 
interest  in  it,  making  her  its  absolute  owner." 

"  What  if  Kate  should  marry  ?  "  asked  Hazel, 
with  a  peculiarly  significant  note  in  her  voice. 

"  Oh,   how  I   wish  she  would ! "  he  replied. 


302    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  That  would  relieve  me  of  much  perplexity.  In 
that  case  I  could  turn  the  whole  problem  over  to 
her  husband.  As  matters  now  stand  I  feel  that  it 
is  my  imperative  duty  to  look  out  for  her  interests, 
for  which  she  is  utterly  incapable  of  looking  out 
herself." 

They  rode  on  in  silence  for  a  little  while. 
Presently  Hazel  said : 

"I  think  you  are  in  some  ways  a  very  generous 
man." 

"  Finish  your  sentence,  please,"  he  answered. 
"  What  about  the  other  ways?  " 

"  Why,  I  think  that  in  some  other  ways  your 
experiences  and  the  conditions  of  your  work  have 
made  you  much  harder,  more  exigent  —  even 
more  despotic  than  you  would  naturally  be." 

"  I  wish  you  would  explain  that,"  he  said. 
"  Believe  me,  Hazel,  it  is  my  dominant  purpose 
to  be  always  just,  always  right,  and  always  kindly 
in  my  dealings  with  my  fellow  men." 

"  I  know  that  perfectly.  That  is  why  I  so  dis- 
like to  see  you  warped  by  your  experiences  to  the 
doing  of  injustice  and  cruelty." 

The  girl  spoke  with  a  sincerity  and  an  intensity 


HAZEL'S  INTERFERENCE       303 

of  feeling  that  must  have  commanded  respect 
from  the  most  arrogantly  self-conceited  of  men, 
and  Warren  Rhett  was  very  far  indeed  from  being 
such  a  man.  Indeed  his  success  in  life  had  in 
large  measure  come  from  his  teachableness. 

"  Go  on,"  he  said.  "  Tell  me  all  that  is  in  your 
mind.  My  own  is  receptive,  I  assure  you." 

"  I  know  that.  Otherwise  I  should  not  have 
ventured  to  speak  at  all.  You  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  deal  with  a  class  of  men  very  different 
from  these  poor  negroes,  in  their  mental  condi- 
tion, in  their  ways  of  thinking  and  in  their  attitude 
toward  life.  They  were  men  controlled  abso- 
lutely by  self-interest,  men  utterly  destitute  of  any 
sense  of  abstract  right  and  wrong,  men  accus- 
tomed —  in  self-interest  —  to  accommodate  them- 
selves to  circumstance.  These  poor  plantation 
negroes  are  not  such  as  they.  They  have  all  their 
lives,  and  for  generations  past,  been  taught  to 
think  of  themselves  as  entitled  to  a  living  from  the 
plantation  on  which  they  were  born.  No  sense 
of  reciprocal  obligation  has  ever  been  awakened 
in  their  minds.  Having  been  emancipated  from 
slavery,  they  are  very  naturally  jealous  of  their 


304     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

new-found  freedom.  They  are  ignorant.  Their 
minds  are  not  sufficiently  instructed,  or  even 
sufficiently  awake,  to  comprehend  the  mutuality 
of  obligation,  and  especially  they  cannot  under- 
stand the  compatibility  of  freedom  with  obliga- 
tions of  obedience." 

"  That  is  precisely  what  I  am  trying  to  teach 
them,"  said  Rhett. 

"  Yes,  I  understand  that,"  answered  Hazel 
with  a  suggestion  in  her  voice  of  the  admiration 
she  felt  for  this  great,  strong  man.  "  But  you 
make  a  mistake,  I  think.  You  are  trying  to  do 
in  detail  what  must  be  done  more  largely  if  it  is  to 
be  profitably  done  at  all." 

"  Just  how  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Why,  I  mean  this :  I  quite  agree  with  you 
that  the  negroes  will  never  advance  much  in  the 
scale  of  civilization  —  the  masses  of  them,  at 
least  —  until,  in  the  expressive  slang  you  used, 
they  are  put  *  up  against  it,'  in  other  words,  sub- 
jected to  that  struggle  for  existence  which  is 
always  and  everywhere  the  inspiration,  the  insti- 
gation of  progress.  But  what  good  of  that  kind 
can  come  from  the  proceedings  you  purpose  to 


HAZEL'S  INTERFERENCE        305 

take  in  this  case  ?  If  all  the  negroes  in  the  South, 
or  even  a  considerable  proportion  of  them,  could 
be  put  '  up  against  it,'  we  might  hope  for  very  be- 
neficent results.  But  no  such  results  can  flow  from 
your  endeavor  to  put  the  negroes  of  Mannamac 
plantation  '  up  against  it.'  You  merely  make 
martyrs  of  them.  You  really  teach  them  no  les- 
son. If  you  close  their  houses  to  them  they  will 
camp  out-of-doors  for  awhile,  supplying  them- 
selves with  food  by  predatory  methods,  and  little 
by  little  they  will  find  places  in  which  to  live  on 
other  plantations.  And  their  last  state  will  cer- 
tainly be  no  better  than  their  first." 

"  I  see  a  certain  measure  of  justice  in  what  you 
say,"  said  Warren,  "  but  there  are  other  consider- 
ations. It  is  my  duty  so  to  organize  things  on 
Kate's  plantation  that  the  land  shall  pay  her  a 
living  instead  of  being  merely  a  refuge  for  preda- 
tory idlers  and  paupers.  These  people  are  under 
a  contract  of  work,  and  they  will  not  work.  I 
purpose  to  rid  the  plantation  of  them  and  to  put 
into  their  places  a  lot  of  men  who  will  work,  be- 
cause they  will  have  a  contract  master  of  their  own 
kind  who  knows  how  to  make  them  work." 


3o6     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  But  there  is  the  human  consideration,"  she 
suggested. 

"  True ! "  he  said.  "  But  I  have  no  right,  now 
that  I  have  taken  hold  of  Kate's  affairs,  to  convert 
her  plantation  into  an  eleemosynary  institution. 
It  is  my  duty  so  to  organize  it  as  to  make  it  yield 
to  her  the  return  it  ought  to  yield.  And  I  am  sat- 
isfied that  to  compel  that  will  be  the  best  possible 
thing  for  the  negroes  themselves.  I  have  seen 
much  of  the  negroes  who  have  gone  North  and  sub- 
jected themselves  to  the  struggle  for  existence. 
They  are  handicapped  in  many  ways  —  particu- 
larly those  of  them  who  know  how  to  do  something. 
I  remember  one  night  in  an  elevated  railroad 
train  hearing  a  number  of  rather  intelligent 
negroes  discuss  that  subject.  One  of  them  spoke 
bitterly  of  the  South  and  of  Southern  conditions, 
whereupon  another  —  a  man  of  some  education 
and  more  brains  —  delivered  his  opinion.  *  I  tell 
you,'  he  said, '  that  the  negro  has  a  better  chance, 
and  more  liberty,  at  the  South  than  at  the  North. 
I  am  a  puddler  by  trade.  I  know  my  trade  as 
well  as  any  other  man  knows  it.  I  have  worked 
at  it  at  Anniston,  Hot  Blast,  and  Birmingham,  and 


HAZEL'S  INTERFERENCE       307 

never  a  man  interfered  with  me.  Seeing  that 
puddlers'  wages  were  higher  at  Pittsburg  than  in 
the  South,  I  went  there.  There  I  found  that  my 
color  completely  excluded  me.  Nobody  was 
allowed  to  work  there  without  being  a  member  of 
the  Union,  and  I  was  not  allowed  to  become  a 
member  of  the  Union,  because  I  am  a  negro.  I 
tell  you  the  South  offers  to  the  negro  a  far  freer 
chance  than  the  North  does.  The  only  trouble 
is  that  the  majority  of  the  negroes  down  there  are 
too  lazy  to  take  advantage  of  their  opportunities.1 
There  was  an  expert  opinion  from  one  who  had 
suffered  wrong.  But  the  plantation  negroes 
seem  incapable  of  seizing  their  opportunities. 
With  a  favorable  climate,  a  fruitful  soil,  and  an  in- 
dulgent public  sentiment,  they  ought  to  enrich 
themselves  rapidly  by  work.  But  they  won't 
work,  and  they  remain  poor." 

The  girl  waited  awhile  before  answering. 
Finally  she  said  : 

"  Did  it  ever  occur  to  you  to  compare  them 
with  the  peasants  of  Continental  Europe?" 

"No.  I  had  not  thought  of  that.  But  of 
course  there  is  room  for  the  comparison." 


308     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  Yes,  and  I  think  such  a  comparison  may  be 
instructive.  The  negro  farm-hand  is  a  residuum. 
The  more  intelligent  negroes  have  found  employ- 
ment in  other  ways,  and  they  are  prospering. 
The  negroes  who  continue  as  farm-hands  are 
essentially  peasants.  They  are  equally  hopeless 
of  betterment,  equally  incapable  of  pushing  their 
fortunes  to  a  higher  level,  equally  ignorant,  and 
equally  content  to  remain  ignorant.  But  there 
are  differences.  The  negro's  standard  of  living  is 
lower  in  some  respects  and  higher  in  others  than 
that  of  the  peasant.  He  wants  food  in  abundance, 
and  especially  meat  food,  and  under  the  conditions 
that  prevail  here,  he  is  able  to  get  it.  The  Euro- 
pean peasant  who  gets  meat  once  a  week  reckons 
himself  peculiarly  fortunate.  Many  of  them, 
particularly  in  Italy,  do  not  taste  meat  oftener  than 
once  a  year.  On  the  other  hand,  the  European 
peasant  is  thrifty.  He  looks  forward.  He  is  alert 
to  seize  upon  every  advantage,  every  opportunity 
that  may  present  itself.  The  negro,  accustomed 
through  long  generations  to  ease  of  living,  through 
dependence  upon  others,  knows  nothing  of  thrift, 
but  trusts  to-morrow  to  take  care  of  itself." 


HAZEL'S  INTERFERENCE       309 

"  Your  analysis  seems  to  me  sound,"  answered 
Rhett,  "  but  what  lesson  do  you  draw  from  it  ?  " 

"  Why,  this,  that  in  dealing  with  the  Southern 
negro  peasant,  you  should  take  account  of  his 
moral  and  intellectual  condition  as  well  as  of  his 
physical  status,  and  of  the  obligation  he  owes 
under  his  contracts  of  work.  I  have  seen  a  good 
deal  upon  several  plantations,  and  it  seems  to  me 
chiefly  the  fault  of  the  planters  themselves  that 
the  negroes  do  not  work  in  a  way  to  make  their 
work  profitable." 

"  Tell  me  of  that." 

"  Why,  on  very  few  plantations  that  I  have 
visited  is  there  any  real,  vigilant  superintendence. 
The  planters  do  not  stay  in  the  fields  with  their 
hands.  Many  of  them  scarcely  visit  their  fields 
at  all.  It  is  their  own  habit  of  mind  to  let  things 
take  care  of  themselves,  just  as  it  is  the  habit  of 
mind  of  the  negroes  to  leave  matters  at  loose  ends. 
Every  successful  business  at  the  North  is  under 
the  constant  surveillance  of  its  owner,  or  of  some 
one  acting  in  his  stead  and  responsible  to  him. 
Otherwise  the  business  would  speedily  end  in 
failure.  Is  it  not  so  ?  " 


3io     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  Of  course  it  is.     But  go  on." 

"  Well,  I  think  that  if  the  planters  would  super- 
intend their  own  affairs  in  the  same  diligent  way, 
instead  of  taking  their  ease,  the  plantations  would 
be  much  more  profitable.  But  especially  I  think 
such  constant  supervision  would  educate  the 
negroes  to  diligence  and  faithfulness  in  work,  and 
that  would  be  a  valuable  lesson  for  them  to  learn. 
Under  the  present  practice  every  inducement  is 
offered  to  them  to  idle,  to  shirk,  and  to  waste  sub- 
stance in  a  score  of  ways.  I  think  the  greatest 
possible  benefaction  to  the  negroes,  and  the  best 
educational  influence  that  could  be  brought  to 
bear  upon  them  would  be  their  subjection  to  the 
constant  presence  and  supervision  of  the  man  who 
employs  them,  or  of  some  one  acting  in  his  stead." 

They  had  reached  Mannamac  by  this  time,  and 
dismounted. 

"  Pardon  me,"  said  Hazel.  "  It  is  altogether 
probable  that  I  have  been  talking  too  confidently 
about  matters  that  I  don't  understand,  but  I  have 
a  very  strong  feeling  that  for  you  to  carry  out  the 
orders  you  gave  to  old  Joe  to-night,  thus  matching 
your  intelligence  and  your  authority  against  the 


HAZEL'S  INTERFERENCE       311 

ignorance  and  helplessness  of  those  poor  creatures, 
would  be  a  thing  unworthy  of  such  a  man.  Good 
night!" 

And  she  fairly  ran  into  the  house  and  up  the 
stairs. 

Rhett  turned  to  the  negro  boy  who  was  about 
to  lead  the  horses  to  the  stables  and  said : 

"  Tell  Uncle  Joe  to  come  to  the  Great  House  and 
see  me  in  the  morning  before  he  does  what  I 
ordered  him  to  do." 


XXI 

WARREN  RHETT'S  SURRENDER 

WARREN  RHETT  was  sorely  perplexed. 
He  still  had  Hazel's  unfinished  story  to 
wrestle  with  in  his  mind,   wondering 
what  the  rest  of  it  might  be.     He  had  hoped  that 
she  would  finish  the  narrative  during  that  night 
ride,  but  she  had  carefully  avoided  it,  plunging 
instead  into  the  subject  of  his  dealings  with  the 
negroes. 

There,  too,  was  a  puzzle.  He  had  fully  wrought 
out  in  his  own  mind  a  course  of  procedure  which 
he  firmly  believed  to  be  altogether  right  and  wise 
—  best  for  Kate,  best  even  for  the  negroes  them- 
selves. But  this  extraordinary  girl  —  who  pre- 
tended to  no  definite  knowledge,  and  who,  when 
ordinary  subjects  were  up  for  discussion,  was 
accustomed  to  sit  as  a  silent  listener,  shielding 
herself  behind  the  mask  of  inexperience  —  this 
312 


RHETT'S  SURRENDER          313 

extraordinary  girl  had  offered  considerations  so 
profound  as  to  shake  even  his  determination. 
He  would  have  liked  to  argue  the  question  out 
with  her,  but  she  had  run  away,  woman-like,  giv- 
ing him  no  opportunity. 

He  walked  the  porch  for  half  of  what  remained 
of  the  night,  trying  by  the  cudgelling  of  his  brains 
to  find  a  way  out  —  a  way  that  should  satisfy  his 
own  convictions  of  justice,  policy,  and  the  ultimate 
advantage  of  the  negroes  themselves,  and  that  at 
the  same  time  should  not  wound  or  offend  the 
sentiments  and  sympathies  of  Hazel  Cameron. 
How  he  longed  to  have  her  with  him,  in  order  that 
he  might  discuss  the  matter  further  with  her,  that 
he  might  have  the  benefit  of  her  suggestions  as  to 
the  various  plans  that  formulated  themselves  in 
his  mind  —  and  still  more  that  he  might  have  the 
joy  of  her  presence.  But  she  had  run  away, 
leaving  him  alone,  and  leaving  him  to  guess  the 
greater  part  of  what  was  in  her  mind,  —  and 
probably  to  guess  wrong. 

Strong  man  that  he  was,  he  was  not  opinionated 
beyond  the  common.  He  recognized  the  justice 
of  much  that  Hazel  had  said  in  behalf  of  the 


314     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

errant  negroes,  but  it  did  not  seem  to  him  suf- 
ficient to  justify  him  in  abandoning  his  original 
purpose. 

But  as  he  weighed  the  matter  in  his  mind  there 
was  another  and  a  ponderous  weight  always  in 
the  scale.  In  spite  of  himself,  in  spite  of  circum- 
stances that  seemed  to  forbid,  Warren  Rhett 
loved  Hazel  Cameron  with  all  the  passionate 
intensity  of  a  strong,  virile  nature  —  and,  as  he 
had  said  in  his  song,  "  Love  is  the  sum  of  it  all." 
That  strange  marriage  of  hers,  whatever  its  out- 
come might  have  been,  might  be  a  bar  to  his  mar- 
riage with  her,  either  now  or  hereafter;  but  in  his 
soul  he  was  determined  that  it  should  offer  no  bar 
whatever  to  his  loving  her,  and  he  loved  her  with 
the  utmost  intensity  of  passion  of  which  he  was 
capable. 

"  After  all,"  he  reflected,  when  he  had  thrashed 
the  matter  out  in  his  mind,  "  after  all,  the  thing  I 
am  most  concerned  about  is  to  satisfy  Hazel's 
scruples.  Fortunately  I  can  do  that  without 
quite  relinquishing  my  authority  or  abandoning 
my  purpose." 
He  had  determined  upon  a  compromise  —  the 


RHETT'S  SURRENDER          315 

most  dangerous  of  all  things  in  a  case  involv- 
ing principle  and  conscience.  When  Joe  came 
to  him  in  the  very  early  morning,  he  said  to 
him: 

"  Joe,  I  have  decided  not  to  be  too  hard  on  the 
folks.  You  needn't  board  up  their  houses,  or  set 
their  things  out-of-doors.  They'll  be  back  on  the 
plantation  this  afternoon  —  " 

"  They'se  a  comin'  this  mornin',  sir,"  answered 
Joe,  "  and  most  of  'em  is  heah  already." 

"  How  did  that  come  about?" 

"  Why,  when  I  called  the  folks  together  what 
stayed  on  the  plantation,  an'  tole  'em  we  was  to 
board  up  all  the  houses  an'  they  must  be  ready  to 
help,  some  of  'em  went  over  to  the  camp-meetin' 
an'  give  the  alarm,  tellin'  every  one  of  the  folks 
there  that  they'd  better  mosey  home,  an'  they're 
a  moseyin'." 

"  So  much  the  better,"  said  Rhett.  "  I'll  be  at 
the  stables  when  the  sun  rises,  half  an  hour  hence, 
and  I'll  tell  them  what  I  am  going  to  do  about 
this  thing.  Have  them  all  there,  Joe." 

When  the  negroes  assembled  at  the  stables 
they  were  in  sulky  and  sullen  mood.  This  man, 


3i6     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

Warren  Rhett,  had  abridged  their  liberty,  denied 
to  them  their  freedom,  invaded  their  rights  —  or 
so  they  held.  He  had  compelled  them  to  relin- 
quish the  intoxicating  delights  of  highly  emotional 
religion  as  offered  to  them  at  camp-meeting.  He 
had  asserted  his  right  to  compel  them  to  fulfil 
their  contract  obligations,  and  he  had  sug- 
gested a  plan  by  which  he  could  do  that  success- 
fully. To  their  dull  minds  this  seemed  a  resto- 
ration of  slavery ;  for  if  a  man  cannot  do  precisely 
as  he  pleases,  they  argued,  he  is  a  slave. 

Rhett  quickly  interpreted  their  thought  and 
their  mood  in  the  light  of  such  mutterings  as  he 
heard.  His  own  mood  was  not  an  over-patient 
one.  He  was  vexed  that  he  had,  for  Hazel's  sake, 
relinquished  a  purpose  which  he  still  believed  to 
have  been  right  and  wise.  He  made  short  work 
of  his  talk  with  the  negroes. 

"  You  men  are  under  contract  to  work  this 
plantation,"  he  said.  "You  haven't  done  it 
faithfully,  as  you  perfectly  well  know.  Yet  you 
have  had  your  rations  and  your  wages.  Your 
neglect  has  been  dishonest  in  you  and  disastrous 
to  Mrs.  Rhett's  interests.  This  year  the  planta- 


HE    MADE    SHORT    WORK    OF    HIS    TALK    WITH   THE    NEGROES. 

Page  316. 


RHETT'S  SURRENDER          317 

tion  hasn't  paid  expenses,  simply  because  you  who 
are  paid  to  cultivate  it  have  shirked  and  idled. 
Late  as  it  was  in  the  year  when  I  came  down  here, 
it  was  still  possible  to  pull  the  plantation  through 
the  year  without  loss,  if  you  men  would  work,  but 
you  wouldn't.  You  went  off  to  the  circus  when 
your  work  here  was  far  behind.  Then  you  made 
up  your  minds  to  go  to  the  camp-meeting,  al- 
though every  one  of  you  knew  how  important  it 
was  to  finish  the  ploughing  first,  so  that  a  crop  of 
winter  wheat  might  be  sowed.  Not  one  of  you 
could  be  spared  for  an  hour,  but  I  didn't  want  to 
be  too  hard  on  you,  so  I  gave  you  leave  to  go 
away  for  two  days,  provided  you  should  finish  the 
ploughing  first.  With  all  of  you  at  work  it  could 
have  been  finished  in  half  a  day.  But  you  wouldn't 
work.  You  wouldn't  wait.  You  held  a  meeting 
and  the  majority  of  you  decided  to  defy  my 
authority,  abandon  the  ploughing,  and  go  off  to 
the  camp-meeting  early  in  the  morning.  When  I 
heard  of  that  I  decided  that  none  of  those  who 
deserted  in  that  way  should  ever  come  back.  I 
ordered  your  houses  boarded  up  and  your  things 
set  out-of-doors.  I  still  think  that  would  have 


3i8    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

been  my  right  course,  but  I  have  been  persuaded 
to  be  more  merciful.  I  have  let  you  come  back  to 
finish  out  the  year  for  which  you  were  hired.  A 
little  more  than  a  month  of  it  remains.  But  I 
want  to  tell  you  now  that  I  shall  hire  none  of  you 
for  next  year.  I  am  going  to  hire  white  laborers 
from  the  north.  Those  of  you  who  have  re- 
mained at  your  work  instead  of  going  away  to 
camp-meeting,  shall  remain  here,  but  not  as  hired 
plantation  hands.  I  am  going  to  give  to  Joe  and 
to  each  of  the  other  faithful  ones,  a  house  and  a 
field,  rent  free.  The  rest  of  you  must  look  out  for 
employment  elsewhere  next  year.  I  give  you 
more  than  a  month's  notice,  and  if  any  of  you 
want  to  take  a  day  off  to  hunt  for  another  place, 
he  has  only  to  ask  me  and  he  shall  have  all  the 
time  he  needs.  That's  all  I  have  to  say  to  you. 
You  may  go  to  your  work  now." 

With  that  he  turned  upon  his  heel  and  returned 
to  the  house.  Hazel  was  standing  in  the  porch 
and  he  had  just  time  for  a  few  words  with  her 
before  Danforth,  who  had  passed  the  night  at 
Mannamac,  joined  them. 

"  I  have  surrendered,"  he  said,  "  not  to  the 


RHETT'S  SURRENDER          319 

negroes,  but  to  your  pleadings.  I  still  think  my 
original  purpose  was  both  right  and  wise,  but  —  " 

"  Then  you  should  have  adhered  to  it,"  she 
interjected. 

"  But  you  begged  me  not  to  do  so,  and  for  your 
sake  I  have  modified  it." 

"  I  think  that  was  wrong,"  she  said.  "  You 
are  a  strong  man,  experienced,  able  and  accus- 
tomed to  deal  with  men.  I  am  only  a  woman, 
utterly  without  such  experience,  and  as  a  woman 
I  suppose  my  sympathies  are  apt  sometimes  to  get 
the  better  of  such  judgment  as  I  have.  It  was 
right  enough  for  you  to  listen  to  what  I  said,  to 
weigh  it,  and  to  give  it  such  force  as  in  your  better 
judgment  it  deserved;  but  you  should  not  have 
acted  upon  it  further  than  it  convinced  your  own 
mind.  But  tell  me  what  you  have  done." 

He  hurriedly  outlined  it.    She  said : 

"  That  seems  to  me  just  and  fair.  You  are  in 
duty  bound  to  arrange  things  here  wisely.  You 
are  certainly  under  no  obligation  to  hire  people 
you  don't  want  to  hire,  particularly  when  your 
reason  for  not  wanting  them  is  their  unfaithful- 
ness. But  what  about  those  who  rent  lands?" 


320     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  I  have  notified  all  of  them  that  I  shall  not  re- 
new their  leases  for  another  year.  They  pay 
practically  no  rent,  and  I  can  make  the  land 
profitable  in  other  ways." 

"  There  again  you  are  right,"  she  said.  "  Thank 
you  for  considering  me  in  the  matter,  and  for 
tempering  justice  with  mercy." 

Here  Danforth  joined  them  and  there  was  no 
opportunity  for  further  talk  of  an  intimate  char- 
acter. 


XXII 

THE  REST  OF  HAZEI/S  STORY 

AT  breakfast  Kate  was  disturbed  by  the 
absence  of  a  roe  herring  for  Warren,  a 
dainty  of  which  he  was  very  fond.    As  if 
the  matter  had  been  one  of  public  consequence, 
like  a  bank  defalcation  or  a  railroad  disaster,  she 
sent  Henry  to  investigate,  to  find  out  who  was  at 
fault,  and  if  possible  to  repair  the  omission. 

"  I'm  perfectly  certain  I  ordered  your  herring 
served,  Warren,  because  I  was  kneading  the  bread 
when  I  did  it,  and  I  find,  by  the  way,  that  we're 
running  low  in  our  coffee  supply,  so  I  am  going  to 
write  to  Richmond  to-day  for  another  bag,  unless 
you  will  do  it  for  me,  Warren  —  won't  you,  dear  ? 
You  see  I  sha'n't  have  any  too  much  time." 

"  Why,  what  have  you  on  the  tapis,  Kate  ?  "  he 
asked.    "  Of  course  I'll  order  the  coffee,  but  what 
is  it  that  so  presses  you  for  time?" 
321 


322     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  Why,  you  know  the  best  train — the  one  that 
has  a  drawing-room  car  on  it  —  leaves  the  Court- 
House  at  eleven  o'clock." 

"  Yes,  I  know;  but  pardon  my  peculiar  imbe- 
cility if  I  fail  quite  to  understand  the  relation  be- 
tween that  undoubted  fact,  and  your  allotment  of 
time  for  the  writing  of  any  letters  of  a  business 
or  social  character  that  you  may  wish  to 
write." 

"Now  you're  laughing  at  me,"  said  Kate, 
cheerily;  "  I  always  know  that  when  you  use  pom- 
pous sentences.  But  I  don't  mind.  By  the  way, 
I  wonder  if  any  of  you  heard  the  parrot  this  morn- 
ing. You  know  I  call  him  '  pompous  '  because 
he  struts  so,  though  he  is  moulting  badly  just 
now.  He  was  shut  up  in  the  back  entry,  where 
he  sleeps,  and  Harriet  was  late  in  cleaning  his 
cage  and  hanging  him  out  in  the  porch,  so  a  little 
after  sunrise  he  raised  a  racket,  calling  for  Har- 
riet, and  denouncing  her  as  '  a  naughty  girl.'  He 
is  almost  human  in  his  intelligence." 

"  He  is  more  than  human,"  said  Warren;  "  he 
is  positively  demoniacal.  But  you,  Kate,  have 
switched  off  your  theme.  You've  forgotten  to 


REST  OF  HAZEL'S  STORY       323 

answer  my  question  —  or  did  you  purposely  omit 
to  do  so?" 

"What  question?" 

"  Why,  I  asked  what  bearing  the  time-table  of 
the  arrivals  and  departures  of  trains  had  upon  the 
question  of  your  leisure  to  write  letters  ?  " 

"Oh,  you  mean  about  the  coffee?  Well,  of 
course  I  don't  want  to  go  down  to  Shockhoe  slip 
just  to  tell  the  commission  merchant  to  send  me  a 
bag  of  coffee.  You  see,  Hazel,  they  unload  all 
sorts  of  things  there,  even  onions  and  garlic  and 
guano  and  stale  cabbages.  So  of  course  I'd 
rather  have  Warren  write  for  the  coffee." 

By  this  time  Warren,  who  was  used  to  Kate's 
intellectual  and  conversational  methods,  began 
to  have  some  glimmering  notion  of  her  meaning. 

"  Are  you  thinking  of  going  to  Richmond  by 
the  eleven  o'clock  train,  Kate  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Why,  yes,  of  course.  Didn't  I  tell  you  that  ? 
It's  what  I  have  been  trying  to  tell  you  all  the 
time.  But  you  interrupt  one  so." 

"Will  you  take  Hazel  with  you?" 

"  No,  certainly  not.  You'd  forget  that  there 
ever  was  such  a  thing  as  dinner  at  Mannamac  if 


324     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

there  weren't  some  woman  here  to  remind  you. 
Hazel  is  going  to  stay  and  keep  house  while  I  run 
down  to  Richmond  —  or  is  it  up  ?  I  declare  I 
always  forget.  Anyhow,  Charley  is  going  to 
escort  me." 

"Oh,  that's  the  arrangement,  is  it?  And 
when  shall  I  send  the  carriage  to  meet  you  at  the 
Court-House  on  your  return,  Kate?" 

"  Well,  I'm  going  to  stay  overnight  with  Cousin 
Mildred,  you  know.  Don't  you  think  she's 
charming,  Hazel?  But  of  course  you  do,  and 
really  I  haven't  time  to  wait  for  you  to  tell  Warren 
what  a  dear  she  is.  She  can  tell  you  that  after  I'm 
gone,  Warren,  and  anything  else  she  pleases. 
But  please,  Warren,  don't  forget  to  order  the  bag 
of  coffee.  It  is  Java  and  Mocha,  you  know  —  or 
else  it's  Mocha  and  Java.  You  can  look  on  the 
last  bag  and  see.  I  haven't  time  to  attend  to 
details.  I  must  run  and  dress." 

"  But  Kate  —  "  he  began.  But  Kate  was 
already  above  stairs. 

"  Never  mind,"  said  Hazel,  "  I'll  find  out  be- 
fore she  goes  when  she  wants  the  carriage  to 
meet  her." 


REST  OF  HAZEL'S  STORY      325 

It  is  here  to  be  observed  that  so  far  as  anybody 
concerned  was  ever  able  to  discover,  Kate  Rhett's 
visit  to  Richmond  on  that  day  had  no  other  insti- 
gation than  her  desire  that  Warren  Rhett  and 
Hazel  Cameron  should  be  left  alone  together  at 
Mannamac,  to  "  talk  the  thing  out."  It  is  in 
evidence  that  need  not  be  presented  here  that 
Kate  neither  shopped,  except  to  buy  some  ribbon 
and  the  like,  nor  visited  a  dressmaker  or  a  mil- 
liner during  her  stay  in  the  capital  city.  So  far 
as  can  be  learned,  her  sole  purchase  there,  apart 
from  some  ribbon  for  Hallie,  was  a  glass  of  ice- 
cream soda.  But  Kate  was  a  peculiar  person, 
and  not  the  least  admirable  of  her  peculiarities 
was  her  ingenious  activity  in  making  opportu- 
nities for  those  to  whose  love-making  she  wished 
well. 

When  she  and  Danforth  had  gone,  Hazel  set 
about  her  housekeeping  duties,  and  young  Rhett 
addressed  himself  to  the  task  of  writing  letters. 
First  of  all,  in  loyalty  to  Kate,  he  wrote  for  the 
needed  bag  of  coffee.  Then  he  wrote  to  one  of 
his  partners  in  New  York,  asking  him  to  engage  a 
thoroughly  competent  Italian  gardener  and  truck 


326     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

farmer,  and  a  competent  assistant,  to  take  charge 
of  the  cultivation  of  Mannamac  plantation  during 
the  coming  year,  beginning  with  the  first  of  Jan- 
uary. With  that  precision  which  always  distin- 
guishes the  work  of  an  educated  engineer,  he 
made  an  exact  statement  of  the  number  of  acres 
of  arable  land,  the  average  amount  of  fertilizer 
yielded  by  the  stables  and  poultry  yards,  the  char- 
acter and  needs  of  the  various  soils,  and  every- 
thing else  that  might  have  a  bearing  upon  the 
matter.  Then  he  added : 

"  I  want  you  to  make  a  hard  and  fast  contract 
with  the  padrone,  and  to  exact  a  bond  security  for 
its  fulfilment.  He  must  judge  for  himself  how 
many  men  he  needs,  but  he  must  make  himself 
responsible  under  bonds  for  the  cultivation  of  the 
plantation  in  the  most  efficient  way  possible.  It 
is  results  that  I  want.  It  is  for  him  to  manage 
processes.  The  plantation  is  fertile,  and  the 
water  road  to  the  markets  of  New  York  and  other 
Northern  cities  is  very  easy  and  very  cheap.  The 
plantation  can  afford  to  pay  a  good  price  to  the 
right  man." 

Finding  upon  inquiry  that  Hazel  had  no  letters 


REST  OF  HAZEL'S  STORY       327 

to  send,  he  despatched  these  two  by  a  young 
negro,  to  the  Court-House. 

After  a  little  while  Hazel  finished  the  house- 
hold duties  of  the  morning,  and  joined  him  in  the 
parlor,  where  a  cheerful  fire  was  blazing.  He 
greeted  her  coming  with  a  welcome,  and  said  to 
her: 

"  Perhaps  you  will  now  finish  the  life  story  you 
started  to  tell  me  the  other  day." 

"  I  think  that  is  why  Kate  went  to  Richmond," 
she  replied,  "  and  I  shall  be  glad  to  have  the  dis- 
tressing thing  over  with." 

She  seated  herself,  not  in  any  one  of  the  great 
easy  chairs,  but  upon  a  stiff,  straight-backed, 
carved  contrivance  of  the  kind  then  known  in 
Virginia  as  "  Elizabethan,"  and  she  sat  bolt  up- 
right, disdaining  even  the  uncomfortable  support 
that  its  rigid  and  knob-studded  back  might  have 
afforded.  Evidently  she  was  nerving  herself  for 
a  task  that  seemed  to  her  exceedingly  hard. 
Presently  she  began  in  a  low,  suppressed,  nerv- 
ously agitated  voice: 

"  When  I  went  through  that  bedside  marriage 
ceremony,  in  the  hospital,  it  was  the  opinion  of  all 


328     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

the  doctors  that  Edward  Cameron  could  not  live 
three  days  —  probably  not  one  day.  I  went 
through  the  ceremony  reluctantly,  in  order  that 
he  might  not  be  vexed  with  opposition  on  his 
dying  bed,  but  might  die  satisfied.  I  had  abso- 
lutely no  other  thought  in  the  matter,  and  that 
thought  was  earnestly  pressed  upon  me  by  his 
mother  who  was  well-nigh  distracted  by  his 
sufferings. 

"  But  he  did  not  die.  After  the  meaningless 
ceremony  was  over  he  became  quiet  and  sank  to 
sleep.  Little  by  little  he  grew  better  of  his  phys- 
ical hurts,  and  after  awhile  it  became  evident 
that  he  was  going  to  recover. 

"  But  there  was  a  taint  in  his  blood  of  which  I 
had  not  heard  before.  His  father,  his  father's 
sister,  and  his  father's  brother  had  all  died  in  in- 
sane asylums,  and  when  Edward  Cameron  re- 
covered from  his  physical  maladies  he  was  a 
raving  maniac." 

Here  Hazel  ceased  to  speak  for  a  time,  as  if  her 
emotions  had  been  too  much  for  her.  When  she 
had  recovered  her  self-control  she  went  on: 

"  I  was  not  really  in  love  with  him,  —  as  I  now 


REST  OF  HAZEL'S  STORY       329 

understand  such  things,  —  but  I  had  liked  him 
mightily.  I  admired  his  heroism  in  rescuing  us 
women,  and  I  very  tenderly  pitied  his  sufferings. 
All  that  was  the  cruellest  part  of  it,  for  in  his 
mania  he  conceived  an  intense  hatred  and  dis- 
trust of  his  gentle  mother  and  of  me.  After  an 
effort  on  our  part  to  soothe  and  placate  him  —  an 
effort  which  resulted  only  in  exciting  his  maniacal 
antagonism  to  a  homicidal  impulse  —  the  physi- 
cians forbade  either  of  us  to  see  him  again.  His 
sister  got  herself  appointed  the  guardian  of  his 
person  and  estate,  and  she  did  the  only  thing 
that  could  be  done  for  him.  That  is  to  say,  she 
placed  him  in  a  private  insane  asylum,  where  she 
personally  fitted  up  rooms  for  him,  so  that  he 
might  be  comfortable.  At  my  suggestion,  she 
employed  two  male  attendants,  so  that  he  might 
walk  abroad  or  go  driving  in  their  company  with- 
out danger  to  any  one,  and  thus  might  not  feel 
that  he  was  under  restraint  of  any  kind. 

"  His  dear  old  mother  was  in  feeble  health  even 
before  all  this  happened.  The  shock,  and  the 
strain,  and  the  horror  of  it  all  —  and  especially 
her  son's  insane  antipathy  to  herself,  proved  too 


330     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

much  for  her.  She  took  to  her  bed,  and  insisted 
that  I  should  be  always  with  her.  She  called  me 
1  daughter,'  and  seemed  to  cling  to  me  and  to  look 
to  me  for  the  sympathy  and  tenderness  which  her 
own  daughter  gave  her  in  exceedingly  scant 
measure,  if  at  all. 

"  After  a  little  while  the  dear  old  lady  seemed 
to  give  up  trying  to  live,  and  one  night  she  sank 
into  the  final  sleep." 

Here  again  the  girl  suspended  her  narrative 
and  quitted  the  room  for  a  time.  On  her  return 
she  resumed  her  narrative  in  a  strong  and  not 
tremulous  voice,  as  if  some  impulse  of  self-defence 
against  remembered  wrong  had  nerved  her  to  this 
part  of  her  task. 

"  I  loved  that  gentle  old  lady  as  I  might  have 
loved  my  own  mother  if  I  had  ever  known  her. 
My  grief  —  I  need  not  tell  you  of  that.  Then 
came  a  blow  in  the  face  —  a  cruel,  merciless, 
brutal  blow.  The  daughter  —  Edward  Cam- 
eron's sister  Beatrice  —  came  to  me  while  her 
mother  lay  awaiting  the  ministry  of  loving  hands 
in  preparation  for  the  grave,  and  in  a  cold,  hard 
voice  said : 


REST  OF  HAZEL'S  STORY       331 

"  '  Miss  Cameron,  now  that  my  mother  is  dead, 
so  that  you  can  expect  no  more  favors  from  her, 
perhaps  you  will  have  the  goodness  to  quit  the 
house  and  leave  us  alone  with  our  sorrow.' 

"  You  can  imagine  what  I  felt  —  I  who  had 
never  thought  of  benefit  of  any  kind  from  that  old 
lady,  except  the  blessing  of  her  affection.  Only 
my  pride  saved  me  from  a  nervous  breakdown. 
That  pride  came  to  my  rescue  as  resolutely  as 
Edward  Cameron  had  done  on  the  occasion  of  the 
fire.  I  said  in  answer,  that  I  had  loved  her 
mother  very  tenderly,  and  that  I  had  intended  to 
attend  her  funeral,  and  then  go  about  my  own 
affairs,  which  sorely  needed  my  attention,  since 
all  my  belongings,  including  even  my  clothing 
and  my  toilet  appliances,  had  been  destroyed  in 
the  fire ;  but  that  as  my  presence  at  the  funeral 
would  be  unwelcome  to  the  daughter,  I  would 
leave  at  once  —  and  would  she  have  one  of  the 
servants  call  a  cab  for  me. 

"  Then  I  went  to  the  room  that  had  been  mine 
in  the  house,  and  carefully  laid  out  everything 
that  Edward  Cameron's  mother  had  provided  for 
me,  even  to  some  little  velvet  hair-ribbons.  All 


332     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

those  things  I  left  upon  the  dressing-case,  in  order 
that  I  might  not  be  accused  of  having  profited  by 
so  much  as  a  cent's  worth  from  my  ministry. 

"  I  had  no  clothes  except  those  in  which  I  had 
been  rescued  from  the  fire.  I  had  no  money 
with  which  to  pay  the  cabman  who  was  to  drive 
me  back  to  the  denser  part  of  the  city,  but  I 
thought  I  knew  how  to  arrange  that,  and  at  any 
rate  I  was  proudly  determined  to  leave  that  house 
with  my  head  erect.  If  worse  came  to  worst  I  had 
my  watch  with  which  to  satisfy  the  cabman,  and  I 
had  studio  friends  with  whom  I  could  live  for  a 
few  days  if  necessary  —  for  it  is  not  the  rich  or  the 
well-to-do  who  are  readiest  to  come  to  one's 
assistance  in  time  of  sore  need,  but  those  who 
know  what  sore  need  is  by  virtue  of  frequent  ex- 
perience of  it.  But  I  did  not  intend  to  appeal  to 
any  of  these  for  anything  more  than  a  night's 
lodging  if  I  could  help  it,  and  I  thought  I  knew 
how  to  help  it. 

"  There  was  a  small  picture-dealer  to  whom  and 
through  whom  I  had  sold  many  pot-boilers,  and  I 
directed  the  cabman  to  drive  to  his  little  shop  in 
upper  Seventh  Avenue.  There  I  bade  the  Jehu 


REST  OF  HAZEL'S  STORY      333 

wait  for  me.  I  told  the  dealer  how  I  had  been 
burned  out,  and,  without  telling  him  how  utterly 
destitute  I  was  of  clothes  and  everything  else,  I 
frankly  said  to  him  that  I  was  in  present  and 
pressing  need  of  a  little  money.  I  mentioned 
twenty  or  twenty-five  dollars,  and  I  told  him  if 
he  would  let  me  have  that  sum  as  an  advance 
upon  work  to  be  done,  I  would  do  absolutely  noth- 
ing else  than  paint  pot-boilers  for  him  until  the 
debt  was  discharged.  He  was  a  Russian  Jew, 
born  in  St.  Petersburg  —  a  man  alert,  business- 
like and,  as  it  proved,  generous. 

"  He  had  a  comely  wife  and  a  beautiful  little 
boy,  to  whom  I  had  taken  a  fancy,  and  for  whom 
a  little  while  before  I  had  painted  a  number  of 
comic  picture-cards  as  a  present.  The  man  said 
to  me  at  once,  *  You  shall  have  the  money  in  ad- 
vance of  course/  and  with  that  he  opened  a  wallet ; 
1  but  I  happen  to  know  you  have  lost  everything, 
and  twenty  or  twenty-five  dollars  will  not  be 
enough  to  set  you  up  again.  I  am  going  to  count 
out  ten  ten-dollar  bills  for  you,  and  then  I'm  going 
to  ask  a  favor.  I  have  a  customer,  a  lady  —  a 
very  fine  lady  and  a  very  good  customer.  She  has 


334     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

seen  you  here  several  times,  and  she  has  asked  me 
to  get  from  you  a  portrait  of  yourself  —  idealized 
if  you  please,  so  as  to  make  a  picture  of  it  and  not 
a  slavish  portrait,  but  still  preserving  your  features 
and  your  expression,  and,  above  all,  your  com- 
plexion and  coloring.  I  want  you  to  paint  that 
picture  for  me,  about  half  life  size.  It  will  sat- 
isfy your  debt  to  me,  and  I  shall  make  a  handsome 
profit  on  the  frame.  You  know  that  is  where  I 
make  most  of  my  profits.  Still  in  this  case  '  — 
and  he  shrugged  his  shoulders  — '  there  will  be 
fifty  dollars'  profit  on  the  picture  itself,  for  the  lady 
is  rich  and  liberal,  and  I'll  divide  that  with  you.' 

"  '  You  shall  do  nothing  of  the  kind,'  I  an- 
swered. '  If  I  paint  the  picture  at  all,  the  profit 
on  its  sale  shall  be  entirely  your  own.  But  I  do 
not  see  how  I  can  paint  it  at  all* 

"'But  why  not?'  he  asked. 

"  I  answered :  '  A  woman  possessed  of  any 
modesty  can't  paint  and  sell  her  own  portrait.' 

"  '  But  that  is  not  what  I  ask.  You  remember 
seeing  a  little  Irish  girl  in  here  several  times  —  a 
girl  with  frowzy  red  hair,  and  freckles  all  over  her 
face?' 


REST  OF  HAZEL'S  STORY       335 

"I  remembered  the  girl,  and  told  him  so, 
"  '  WeU,  look  at  this,  and  this,  and  this,'  he  said, 
showing  me  some  really  beautiful  pictures.  '  If 
you  remember  her  well,  you'll  see  that  all  three  of 
these  pictures  were  painted  from  her  as  a  model. 
They  are  not  portraits,  yet  knowing  her,  you  can 
find  her  in  each  of  them.  That  is  what  I  want 
you  to  do.  Set  a  mirror  in  front  of  yourself,  study 
your  own  countenance  and  expression  and  com- 
plexion ;  bring  all  you  have  of  imagination  to  bear, 
and  paint  me  not  a  portrait  but  a  picture/ 

"  After  a  little  thought,  and  a  glance  into  the 
mirror  which  he  swung  around  for  that  purpose, 
I  saw  how  easily  I  might  do  this  thing,  and  I  was 
almost  persuaded.  He  completed  the  persuasion 
by  saying :  '  I  am  very  anxious  about  this,  be- 
cause the  lady  is  a  very  good  customer.  I  buy 
pictures  for  her  in  the  big  shops,  and  she  pays  me 
liberal  commissions.  She  is  so  anxious  for  this 
picture  from  your  own  hand  that  she  has  threat- 
ened to  withdraw  her  patronage  if  I  do  not  get  it 
for  her.  My  dear  young  lady,  let  me  tell  you :  I 
would  rather  never  get  back  a  penny  of  the  money 
I  am  advancing  to  you  —  I  would  rather  sacrifice 


336     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

that  and  pay  you  a  hundred  dollars  more  than  to 
miss  getting  this  picture.' 

"  What  could  I  do  ?  Here  was  a  man  —  not 
rich  but  poor,  rather  —  who  was  advancing  his 
money  liberally  to  me  at  a  time  of  sore  need,  and 
who  asked  of  me  in  return  nothing  more  than  a 
service  that  would  save  to  him  his  best  customer, 
and  at  the  same  time  pay  him  a  liberal  profit.  He 
had  already  stood  my  friend  when  I  needed  friend- 
ship. There  was  only  one  course  open  to  me.  I 
answered  that  I  would  paint  the  picture.  I  ac- 
cepted his  advance  of  a  hundred  dollars.  I  rented 
a  studio  flat,  found  a  girl  to  share  it  with  me,  and 
set  to  work. 

"  The  result  was  altogether  satisfactory.  I  so 
far  idealized  the  woman  I  saw  in  the  mirrors 
round  about  me,  that  I  think  even  you  or  Kate 
would  not  recognize  the  picture  as  a  portrait  of 
me;  but  it  was  far  more  beautiful  than  any  one 
woman  ever  was,  and  it  delighted  the  woman  who 
had  ordered  it.  She  was  so  pleased,  indeed,  that 
she  came  to  me  with  three  other,  though  smaller 
commissions.  It  seems  she  was  furnishing  a 
home  for  her  daughter,  who  was  presently  to  be 


REST  OF  HAZEL'S  STORY      337 

married,  and  further  than  that,  it  was  her  practice 
to  give  pictures  for  birthday  and  Christmas 
presents. 

"  But  all  this  is  apart  from  the  story  I  have  to 
tell.  A  few  weeks  after  I  had  established  myself 
in  my  new  studio,  Edward  Cameron's  sister 
visited  me  —  not  in  friendship,  but  with  purely 
business  intent.  She  was  brutally  and  insult- 
ingly frank.  She  explained  to  me  that  she  now 
had  complete  control  of  her  brother's  affairs,  and 
that  it  was  her  duty  to  arrange  them  to  the  best 
advantage  of  the  estate.  Then  she  told  me 
something  else. 

"  *  During  her  last  illness,'  she  said,  '  my 
mother  added  a  codicil  to  her  will,  in  which  she 
left  to  you  five  government,  four  per  cent,  bonds, 
of  the  face  value  of  one  thousand  dollars  each, 
and  of  a  market  value  nearly  or  quite  one-third 
greater.  But  I  have  consulted  my  lawyers  and 
they  tell  me  the  bequest  can  probably  be  success- 
fully contested  on  the  ground  of  undue  influence. 
I  have  come  to  suggest  a  compromise,  to  save 
trouble  and  expense  all  around.' " 

"  And  what  did  you  reply  ?  "  asked  Warren 


338     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

Rhett.     "  I  sincerely  hope  you  did  not  consent  to 
any  compromise." 

"  No,  I  did  not.  I  told  her  she  might  have 
saved  the  expense  of  the  consultation  with  her 
lawyers,  for  that,  in  view  of  her  attitude,  I  was 
altogether  too  proud  a  woman  to  accept  one  dol- 
lar of  the  legacy.  I  told  her  that  if  she  would,  at 
her  own  expense,  have  her  lawyers  draw  up  a 
paper  by  which  I  could  relinquish  the  bequest  I 
would  execute  it  under  their  direction.  She 
asked  me  to  call  upon  her  lawyers  for  that  pur- 
pose, but  I  answered  that  it  was  for  them  to  call 
upon  me,  and  that,  too,  at  my  convenience.  I 
appointed  an  hour  for  their  call,  and  added: 
'  You  will  bear  in  mind  that  they  are  your  lawyers, 
on  your  business,  and  that  they  must  look  to  you 
for  pay  for  their  time  in  visiting  me.  And  another 
thing:  lawyers  are  apt  to  keep  people  waiting 
even  when  there  is  a  positive  appointment  made. 
It  may  be  worth  your  while  to  tell  yours  that  I  will 
not  be  kept  waiting.  I  have  set  two  o'clock  sharp 
on  next  Wednesday  afternoon  for  their  call.  If 
they  are  here  at  that  hour  I  will  give  them  half  an 
hour  and  sign  the  papers.  If  they  are  one  minute 


REST  OF  HAZEL'S  STORY       339 

later  they  will  find  me  gone,  and  as  I  am  going  to 
leave  the  city,  it  may  be  many  moons  before  they 
can  secure  another  appointment,  even  if  I  should 
not  change  my  mind  and  deciJe  not  to  sign  the 
papers  at  all.' 

"  She  promised  to  have  the  lawyers  wait  upon 
me  promptly,  and  then  she  turned  to  another 
subject. 

"  '  Now  about  this  so-called  marriage  of  yours 
with  my  brother,'  she  said.  '  My  lawyers  tell  me 
that  so  long  as  you  hold  to  it,  it  is  probably  bind- 
ing, but  that  upon  your  suit  it  would  be  declared 
null  and  void  from  the  beginning  —  that  there 
never  was  any  marriage  at  all,  and  that  both  my 
brother  and  you  are  entirely  free  of  entanglement 
in  the  matter.' 

"  I  sought  to  interrupt  her,  but  she  asked  me  to 
hear  her  out.  She  went  on  to  explain  that  of 
course,  so  long  as  I  should  hold  the  legal  relation 
of  wife  to  her  brother,  I  could  claim  maintenance 
from  his  estate.  But  even  that,  she  said,  might 
be  contested  in  the  courts,  and  she  added,  '  Of 
course  you  have  no  money  with  which  to  carry  on 
litigation.  So  as  I  want  to  be  generous  and  con- 


340    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

siderate,  I  make  this  proposition.  If  you  will 
consent  to  have  a  suit  brought  in  your  name  to 
annul  the  marriage,  I  will  give  you  an  allowance 
of  one  hundred  dollars  a  month  from  my  brother's 
estate,  so  long  as  you  live.'  " 

"  What  answer  did  you  make  to  that  ?  "  Rhett 
asked. 

"  None.  I  simply  rose,  opened  the  door,  and 
told  her  to  be  gone.  She  tried  to  argue,  she  tried 
to  plead;  but  I  resolutely  refused  to  listen  or  to 
answer.  You  see  I  wanted  nothing  from  Edward 
Cameron's  estate,  but  I  could  not  consent  to  have 
it  decreed  by  a  court  that  my  marriage  with  him 
had  been  a  mockery,  and  still  less  could  I  do  that 
for  money." 

Rhett  was  standing  now,  and  bending  over  the 
girl  in  his  eagerness  to  hear  the  last  detail  of  her 
story.  With  intense  solicitude  he  asked: 

"  You  did  not  accept  any  money  from  that 
woman  —  then  or  afterward  ?  " 

"  Of  course  not.  How  could  I  ?  What  do  you 
mean?  " 

"  Only  that  if  you  had  done  so,  I  should  have 
taken  the  next  train  for  New  York,  and  should 


REST  OF  HAZEL'S  STORY      341 

myself  have  returned  the  last  dollar  of  it  with 
compound  interest.  I  love  you,  Hazel,  as  you 
very  well  know,  and  it  is  my  self-assumed  priv- 
ilege to  protect  you  even  against  any  mistakes  you 
may  have  made  under  the  distressing  circum- 
stances you  have  described." 

"  But  surely  you  could  not  have  suspected  me 
of  so  mean  and  humiliating  a  thing  as  that  ?  " 

"  Not  for  an  instant !  I  only  asked  assur- 
ance from  your  own  lips.  Go  on.  Tell  me  the 
rest. " 

"  There  isn't  much  else  to  tell.  The  lawyers  — 
after  the  manner  of  lawyers  —  failed  to  appear  at 
the  time  appointed.  I  had  said  that  I  would  not 
wait  one  minute  beyond  the  hour,  but,  to  make 
allowance  for  unavoidable  delays,  I  waited  for  full 
fifteen  minutes  beyond  the  time  set.  Then  I  left 
for  Mannamac.  You  see  I  had  a  commission  to 
make  some  humorous  pictures  for  reproduction 
on  Christmas  cards  and  the  like,  and  I  wanted  to 
use  the  quaint  and  comical  little  darkeys  down 
here  as  my  models.  Kate  had  been  pressing  me 
to  come  to  her  in  her  loneliness,  and  I  had  en- 
gaged my  passage  by  an  Old  Dominion  steam- 


342    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

ship  which  was  to  sail  at  three-thirty  that  day,  so 
I  had  barely  time  in  which  to  reach  my  ship.  As 
we  sailed  down  the  coast  I  thought  the  matter 
over,  and  I  was  glad  I  had  signed  no  papers  of  any 
description.  I  was  —  and  I  still  am  —  fully  de- 
termined never  to  receive  so  much  as  a  dollar  or  a 
cent  either  of  the  legacy  the  dear  old  lady  left  me, 
or  of  moneys  that  I  might  claim  from  Edward 
Cameron's  estate,  but  in  view  of  the  insulting 
treatment  I  have  received,  I  have  decided  to  sign 
nothing,  and  to  leave  that  woman  to  wrestle  with 
the  difficulty  as  best  she  can. 

"  I  left  no  word  at  the  studio  or  elsewhere,  as  to 
my  future  whereabouts.  Indeed,  as  my  girl  com- 
panion had  to  go  away  at  the  same  time  that  I 
did,  we  sub-let  the  studio,  and  neither  of  us  left  any 
address  behind.  That  was  six  months  ago,  and  I 
have  been  here  ever  since.  But  they  seem  some- 
how to  have  found  me  out." 

"  How  do  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Why,  yesterday,  while  you  were  out  in  the 
fields,  one  of  the  lawyers  called  here,  but,  when  he 
announced  himself,  Kate  was  equal  to  the  emer- 
gency. She  always  is,  you  know,  when  there  is  a 


REST  OF  HAZEL'S  STORY       343 

real  emergency.  I  had  told  her  that  if  any  one  of 
the  lawyers  should  follow  me  up,  which  I  did  not 
expect,  though  I  feared  it  as  a  possibility,  I  should 
not  see  him.  So  when  he  appeared,  I  ran  up- 
stairs, and  Kate  calmly  told  him  she  didn't  know 
where  I  could  be  found,  which  was  true  enough 
—  for  she  didn't  know  in  which  room  I  was  hid- 
ing. Charley  Danforth  was  standing  by  her  side, 
but,  without  a  moment's  hesitation,  and  without 
'  turning  a  hair,'  as  you  horsemen  say,  she  coolly 
told  the  man  that  my  attorney  was  Mr.  Charles 
Danforth,  whose  office  was  at  the  Court-House 
village,  and  that  perhaps  his  best  course  would 
be  to  consult  Mr.  Danforth.  Charley  bore  it  all 
beautifully.  He  even  played  host  in  your  stead, 
and,  without  revealing  himself,  gave  the  visitor  a 
glass  of  peach  and  honey,  and  then  bade  him  a 
cordial  farewell.  I  suppose  the  lawyer  will  call 
upon  him  as  soon  as  he  gets  back  from  Richmond, 
but  I  have  asked  him  to  say  that  as  the  papers  I 
was  to  sign  were  not  presented  at  the  time  ap- 
pointed, and  as  I  have  no  interest  in  signing  them, 
I  now  decline  to  do  anything  whatever." 
"  Perfectly  right.  Sign  nothing.  '  Stand  pat ' 


344    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

upon  that  determination.  Now  I  want  you  to 
make  me  your  attorney  in  fact,  as  Charley  Dan- 
forth  is  your  attorney  at  law,  so  that  I  may  act  for 
you  in  case  of  necessity.  I  have  an  idea  that  that 
lawyer  will  come  hither  again  when  he  finds  that 
Danforth  has  gone  to  Richmond.  I  imagine  he 
thinks  it  would  be  easier  to  deal  with  a  young 
woman  than  with  a  shrewd  lawyer  like  Danforth. 
Say  that  you  authorize  me  to  act  for  you,  and 
if  he  comes,  as  he  pretty  certainly  will,  you  need 
have  no  fear  of  consequences." 

"  Of  course  you  may  act  for  me,"  she  answered, 
and  then,  with  that  childlike  innocence  which  even 
her  experiences  had  not  sufficed  to  impair,  she 
added  : 

"  Who  could  have  a  better  right  ?  You  remem- 
ber what  I  said  to  you  that  night  on  horse- 
back?" 

"  Wait  a  minute,"  said  Rhett,  going  to  a  desk 
that  stood  in  the  wide  hallway,  or  passage,  through 
the  house  — after  the  custom  of  plantation  houses 
—  "I  want  to  be  fully  armed  with  authority 
to  represent  you." 

With  that  he  wrote  upon  a  sheet  of  paper: 


**JES'  LIKE  WHITE  FOLKS."  —  Page  345. 


REST  OF  HAZEL'S  STORY       345 

"Warren  Rhett,  Esq., 

"  I  hereby  appoint  you  my  attorney  in  fact  to 
represent  all  my  interests,  to  act  for  me  and  in  my 
name,  and  whatsoever  you  may  do  under  this 
general  power  of  attorney,  I  hereby  ratify  and  con- 
firm as  fully  as  if  I  were  personally  present,  doing 
the  same.  Given  under  my  hand  and  seal  this 
twenty-fifth  day  of  November,  18 — ." 

Then  he  called  Henry,  the  dining-room  servant, 
and  Diana,  Kate's  maid,  both  of  whom  were  proud 
of  their  ability  to  write,  and  still  prouder  of  being 
called  upon  to  witness  a  legal  document,  "jes' 
like  white  folks,"  as  Diana  said,  and  the  power  of 
attorney  was  executed. 

Hazel's  was  a  supersensitive  nature,  in  spite  of 
her  superb  capacity  for  self-control,  and  Rhett, 
whose  perceptions  were  tenderly  alert  in  every- 
thing that  concerned  her,  observed  that  the  telling 
of  her  story,  and  the  recalling  of  all  its  painful 
incidents,  had  seriously  unnerved  her.  He  turned 
to  her  and  said  : 

"  Now  the  first  use  I  shall  make  of  my  authority 
as  your  attorney  in  fact,  is  to  order  you  to  go  to 


346    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

bed.  Diana,  prepare  a  hot  bath  for  your  Miss 
Hazel,  and  after  she  has  taken  it,  put  her  to  bed, 
close  the  shutters,  draw  the  curtains  so  closely 
that  no  ray  of  sunlight  shall  peep  into  her  room, 
and  then  see  to  it  that  there  shall  be  no  noises  any- 
where about  the  place.  There's  a  boy  flailing 
rugs  out  there  under  the  trees  at  the  back  of  the 
house.  Stop  that  at  once.  Your  Miss  Hazel 
must  have  peace  and  quietude,  and  I  shall  hold 
you  responsible  for  that." 

"  But  —  "  interrupted  Hazel,  "  who  is  to  look 
after  the  household  affairs  ?  " 

"  I  will,"  he  answered.  "  And  believe  me,  I 
am  not  inexperienced.  I've  run  this  house  many 
a  time  for  weeks  together  with  nobody  but  myself 
to  give  an  order,  and  I've  entertained  guests  under 
those  conditions.  And  besides,  you  know  my 
gospel,  that '  Love  is  the  sum  of  it  all.'  You  need 
rest,  and  I  have  told  you  that  I  love  you.  Noth- 
ing else  matters." 


XXIII 

A  GENTLEMAN'S  ULTIMATUM 

WHEN  Diana  came  down  the  stairs  half 
an  hour  later,  Rhett  called  her  to  him 
and  asked: 

"  Has  your  Miss  Hazel  gone  regularly  to  bed  ?  " 
It  should  be  explained  that  in  Virginia  there 
was  always  a  well-recognized  distinction  between 
lying  down  in  a  wrapper  and  going  "  regularly  to 
bed."  The  latter  phrase  meant  that  one  com- 
pletely disrobed,  put  on  night-clothes,  and  put  one- 
self between  the  sheets  as  if  going  to  bed  for  the 
night. 

"  Yes,  sir.  She's  tuckered  out,"  answered 
Diana,  whose  education  had  not  involved  the  evil 
of  eliminating  an  expressive  dialect.  "  She's  had 
her  bath  an'  she's  gone  regularly  to  bed,  jes'  as  ef 
it  was  night,  or  as  ef  she  was  sick,  an'  I've  used  up 
mos'  all  of  a  paper  o'  pins  a  stickin'  the  curtains  to 
the  window  jambs  so's  no  sunlight  kin  creep  in. 
347 


348    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

You'se  mighty  precious  o'  Miss  Hazel,  ain't  you, 
Mas' Warren?" 

"  Yes,  Diana.  And  she's  worth  it,  don't  you 
think?" 

"  Cou'se  she  is.  She's  the  sweetest  young  lady 
as  ever  come  to  Mannamac  in  my  time.  She's  so 
gentle,  you  know.  W'y,  she  dpn't  even  order  me 
about  —  not  even  me.  Ef  she  wants  a  pail  o'  hot 
water  she  says  '  Diana/  —  an'  she  don't  interrupt 
it  into  '  Dinah,'  neither,  but  says  '  Diana '  clear 
out  plain  —  she  says,  '  Diana,  won't  you  please 
bring  me  a  pail  o'  hot  water  from  the  kitchen,' 
an'  then  I  feel  jes'  as  ef  I'd  ruther  die  than  have 
that  hot  water  short  o'  the  bilin'  p'int.  You  see 
she's  so  sweet  an'  persuadin',  an'  she's  so  —  well 
you  know  how  it  is,  Mas'  Warren  —  anybody  as 
wouldn't  be  more'n  happy  to  wait  on  her  would 
be  a  contumacious  idiot." 

"  Where  did  you  get  that  word, c  contumacious,' 
Diana?"  asked  Rhett,  quizzically. 

"  It  was  in  one  o'  my  lessons  at  school,"  an- 
swered the  young  mulatto  woman,  proudly. 
"  You  see  I  remember  my  education.  Ain't 
'  contumacious  '  the  right  word,  Mas'  Warren  ?  " 


A  GENTLEMAN'S  ULTIMATUM  349 

"Of  course  it  is,"  he  answered.  "Coupled 
with  the  noun  '  idiot/  and  applied  as  you  apply  it, 
it  seems  to  me  admirable.  But  now,  Diana,  I 
want  your  Miss  Hazel  to  sleep  and  rest  as  long  as 
she  can.  Here  you !  "  he  cried  to  a  housemaid 
who  was  starting  up  the  stairs  with  a  pail  and  a 
scrubbing-brush.  "  Come  here.  You  are  not  to 
do  anything  up-stairs  till  Diana  tells  you.  Go  off 
and  busy  yourself  with  something  else.  Go  and 
scrub  the  back  porch  —  it  needs  it  —  and  mind 
you,  if  you  make  any  noise  in  doing  it  I  shall  want 
to  know  why.  Diana,  I  want  you  to  get  your 
knitting  or  your  needlework,  or  whatever  else  you 
have  in  hand,  and  seat  yourself  at  the  foot  of  those 
stairs  in  the  most  comfortable  chair  you  can  find. 
I  want  you  to  stay  there  till  your  Miss  Hazel  calls 
for  you,  even  if  it  takes  all  day  and  all  night,  and 
till  she  does  call  you,  you  are  not  to  allow  anybody 
—  white  or  black  or  mixed  —  to  go  up  those 
stairs  upon  any  pretext.  Here's  a  dollar  to  buy 
some  pretty  thing  with.  Now  you  understand 
your  duty?  " 

Diana  accepted  the  dollar  and  indicated  that 
she  understood.  She  wondered  "  what  in  the 


350    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

name  o'  kingdom  come  "  was  to  become  of  the 
up-stairs  scrubbing  and  window  washing,  but  she 
ventured  no  protest — no  suggestion  of  remon- 
strance. She  slipped  the  dollar  bill  into  her 
corsage,  seated  herself  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs,  and 
reflected  that,  for  this  day  at  least,  Mas'  Warren 
was  "  a  runnin'  o'  the  house."  It  was  a  part  of 
Diana's  duty  to  see  that  the  housemaids  should 
on  this  day  of  the  week  do  the  necessary  scouring 
above  stairs,  and  Diana  was  a  duty-loving  person. 
But  like  everybody  else  on  the  plantation  — 
white  and  black  alike  —  she  recognized  the  mas- 
ter's word  as  law.  Moreover,  it  was  easy  for 
Diana  to  shed  responsibility,  and,  fortified  behind 
Warren  Rhett's  command,  she  would  very  cheer- 
fully have  left  every  bed  in  the  house  unmade,  if 
that  task  had  not  been  fulfilled  some  hours  be- 
fore. 

Having  arranged  for  Hazel's  quietude  and  rest, 
Rhett  mounted  his  mare  and  rode  out  to  the  fields 
to  inspect  the  work  in  progress  there. 

On  his  return  to  the  Great  House  —  the  day 
having  become  comfortably  warm  —  he  seated 
himself  in  the  porch  to  await  the  lawyer's  coming. 


A  GENTLEMAN'S  ULTIMATUM  351 

For  Kate  had  sent  him  a  hurried  note  by  special 
messenger  while  waiting  for  her  train,  and  in  it 
she  had  said  : 

"  You  must  put  Hazel  out  of  the  way  some- 
where before  he  gets  there  —  of  course  I  mean 
that  lawyer  —  even  if  you  have  to  send  her  over 
to  Hallie  Harvey's,  and  if  you  do  that,  please  ask 
her  to  tell  Hallie  I  have  forgotten  what  width  rib- 
bon it  was  that  she  wanted,  but  I'll  get  several 
widths  and  those  she  don't  want  I'll  keep  myself. 
You  know  a  woman  can  always  make  use  of  rib- 
bon. No,  I  suppose  you  don't  Men  never  do 
know  anything  except  politics  and  business,  and 
Latin  and  a  lot  of  other  useless  things  —  anyhow 
you  tell  Hazel  to  tell  Hallie  what  I  have  said. 
And  don't  let  that  fellow  see  Hazel.  You  see 
when  I  got  here  I  was  thirsty,  and  the  soda-water 
at  the  store  is  good  enough,  and  I  really  like  soda- 
water,  but  I  see  they  wash  their  glasses  only  in 
cold  water  after  everybody  has  drunk  out  of  them, 
so  I  simply  had  to  go  to  the  tavern  for  a  drink  of 
water,  and  Sallie  —  the  maid  there,  who  used  to 
be  at  Mannamac  —  I'm  sure  she  wants  to  come 
back  now,  but  I  didn't  say  anything  about  that  — 


352    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

well,  Sallie  told  me  the  lawyer  had  ordered  a  horse 
and  buggy  for  just  after  dinner,  and  you  know  the 
tavern  dinner  is  served  at  noon,  though  I  never 
could  understand  how  people  could  want  their 
dinner  at  that  hour,  and  of  course  he's  going  out 
to  Mannamac  to  see  Hazel,  and  he  mustn't. 
You'll  know  how  to  manage  it  some  way,  won't 
you,  Warren,  dear?  The  train  is  here  and  wait- 
ing for  me  —  these  conductors  are  very  nice,  don't 
you  think?  " 

Rhett  had  said  nothing  to  Hazel  about  the  re- 
ceipt of  this  note  of  warning,  but  having  got  her 
to  bed,  and  having  done  everything  possible  to 
prevent  the  disturbance  of  her  rest,  he  lay  in  wait, 
as  it  were,  for  the  lawyer.  In  anticipation  of  that 
person's  probable  coming,  Warren  Rhett  fell  into 
one  of  his  half- humorous,  half- cynical  moods,  re- 
solving to  get  some  amusement  out  of  the  coming 
game  of  fence  with  the  lawyer,  but  at  the  same 
time  determining  to  find  out  a  good  deal  more 
than  Hazel  knew  as  to  the  facts  of  the  case  as  they 
now  stood,  and  as  to  the  attitude  of  Edward  Cam- 
eron's sister,  whom,  of  course,  the  lawyer  rep- 
resented. 


A  GENTLEMAN'S  ULTIMATUM  353 

It  was  three  o'clock  —  an  hour  before  the  Man- 
namac  dinner-time  —  when  the  lawyer  drove  up 
to  the  horse-block  on  the  inner  curve  of  "  the 
circle."  Rhett  received  him  cordially,  introduc- 
ing himself  and  saying,  "  I  believe  this  is  not  our 
first  meeting,  Mr.  Farlow.  I  remember  that  you 
cross-examined  me  once  in  a  case  in  which  you 
represented  my  antagonist." 

"Why,  to  be  sure,"  answered  Farlow;  "and 
I'm  delighted  to  meet  you  again,  though  I  have  a 
very  vivid  impression  that  you  distinctly  got  the 
better  of  me  in  that  cross-examination." 

"  Oh,  that  was  only  because  the  facts  were  all 
against  your  clients.  I  do  not  understand  that 
counsel  are  expected  to  manufacture  their  facts  — 
it  is  enough  if  they  color  and  distort  them.  How- 
ever, we  need  not  hark  back  to  that.  As  I  com- 
pletely won  in  that  litigation  I  bear  no  malice,  and 
I  hope  you  bear  none." 

"Malice?  Why,  my  dear  Mr.  Rhett,  if  a 
lawyer  went  about  hating  the  people  opposed  to 
his  clients,  or  even  those  of  them  who  beat  his 
clients  in  the  courts,  he  would  not  only  become  a 
very  malevolent  and  a  very  unhappy  person,  but 


354    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

he  would  presently  have  to  close  his  office  for  want 
of  business.  It  has  very  often  happened  to  me  to 
be  retained  by  the  very  people  whom  I  had  beaten 
in  court.  You  see  —  " 

"  I  quite  understand.  But  permit  me.  Here, 
boy  —  take  this  gentleman's  horse  to  the  stable ; 
have  him  fed  and  curried,  and  have  his  fetlocks 
thoroughly  washed.  They  haven't  been  cleansed 
in  a  month.  Tell  Bob  to  comb  out  his  mane  and 
tail.  He  would  be  a  very  presentable  animal  if 
Botts  would  only  take  decent  care  of  him.  You 
hired  him  from  Botts,  did  you  not  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  that's  his  name.  At  any  rate  he's 
the  hotel- keeper." 

"  That's  Botts,"  answered  Rhett.  "  But  the 
shack  he  keeps  is  a  tavern,  not  a  hotel.  The  dis- 
tinction seems  to  me  important.  Does  it  not  im- 
press you  in  the  same  way,  in  view  of  the  meals, 
and  especially  the  service  that  you  get  —  or  rather 
do  not  get  there  ?  " 

In  spite  of  the  seriousness  of  purpose  that  had 
inspired  his  visit,  Farlow  laughed  and  answered : 

"  Well,  perhaps  the  word  '  tavern  '  would 
describe  that  hostelry  more  accurately  than 


A  GENTLEMAN'S  ULTIMATUM  355 

'  hotel '  does.  But  I  know  nothing  whatever 
about  horses,  except  that  their  heads  are  on  their 
front  ends,  and  so  I  raised  no  objection  when  this 
one  was  brought  to  me.  He  seems  to  be  an  ani- 
mal of  peculiar  disposition.  Several  times  on  my 
way  over  here  he  suddenly  stopped  in  the  middle 
of  the  road  and  refused  to  proceed  further.  If  I 
touched  him  with  the  whip,  or  otherwise  urged 
him,  he  backed  in  a  way  that  threatened  to  dump 
me  and  the  buggy  into  the  bushes  by  the  road- 
side." 

"Balky,  eh?  Well,  it  is  just  like  Botts  to 
provide  a  stranger  with  a  balky  horse,  because 
the  longer  and  the  more  frequently  the  horse 
balks,  the  longer  your  journey  must  be.  He  is 
charging  you  by  the  hour,  I  suppose?  " 

"  Yes  —  seventy-five  cents  an  hour,  he  said." 
"  Don't  think  of  paying  it.  Twenty-five  cents 
an  hour  is  the  established  price  at  the  Court- 
House.  Offer  him  that  and  '  stand  pat.'  How- 
ever, that's  your  business,  not  mine.  Take  a 
seat.  It  is  pleasanter  here  in  the  porch  than  in- 
doors. Dinner  will  be  served  in  an  hour,  and  you 
must  share  it  with  me.  My  stepmother,  who  is 


356    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

the  mistress  here,  went  to  Richmond  this  morning, 
so  we  shall  have  no  gracious  feminine  presence 
at  the  head  of  the  table,  but  you  and  I  may  enjoy 
our  dinner,  in  spite  of  that." 

"  I  had  hoped,"  said  Farlow,  "  to  meet  Miss 
—  or  Mrs.  —  Hazel  Cameron  to-day.  Is  she 
not  here?" 

"Which?"  asked  Rhett,  and  he  added  no 
word  of  explanation. 

"  I'm  afraid  I  don't  catch  your  meaning," 
answered  the  other. 

"  Why,  which  is  it  that  you  want  to  meet  — 
Miss  or  Mrs.  Hazel  Cameron  ?  " 

"  Surely  there  are  not  two  of  them.  I  mean 
only  that  it  still  remains  for  the  courts  to  deter- 
mine whether  it  is  Miss  or  Mrs.  Cameron.  You 
see  there  was  a  certain  ceremony  —  supposed  at 
the  time  to  be  a  marriage  —  but  the  courts  have 
not  yet  passed  upon  that." 

"  Pardon  me  for  interrupting,"  said  Rhett,  in 
the  drawling  tone  which  he  always  adopted  when 
he  had  either  a  very  serious  or  a  humorous  purpose 
to  serve,  "  but  it  may  clear  things  up  a  bit  and 
enable  us  to  discuss  matters  to  better  advantage, 


A  GENTLEMAN'S  ULTIMATUM  357 

if  I  tell  you  that  /  am  both  Miss  and  Mrs.  Hazel 
Cameron." 

The  man  rose  from  his  chair  in  astonishment. 
Here  was  a  great,  hulking,  aggressively  mascu- 
line man,  tall,  broad  of  shoulder,  muscular,  and 
massive,  claiming  to  be  the  daintily  delicate 
woman  whom  he  had  driven  over  to  Mannamac 
to  see. 

"  I  confess  I  don't  understand  you,"  said  the 
lawyer. 

"  Oh,  it  is  simple  enough.  I  hold  a  general 
and  sweeping  and  all- comprehensive  power  of 
attorney  from  Hazel  Cameron  —  be  she  Miss  or 
Mistress  —  which  you  may  read  if  you  choose." 

With  that  he  handed  the  paper  to  Farlow. 
After  the  lawyer  had  read  it,  Rhett  continued: 

"  Now  you  understand  that  from  this  hour 
forth,  all  the  dealings  of  your  clients,  or  of  your- 
self as  attorney,  with  Hazel  Cameron,  must  be 
direct  dealings  with  me.  What  is  it  you  want  ?  " 

"  Well,  we  are  trying  to  arrange  things,"  an- 
swered the  other,  vaguely.  "  You  see  there  was 
a  pretended  marriage  —  " 

"  There  was  nothing  of  the  kind,"  answered 


358    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

Rhett  quickly  —  almost  angrily.  Then  he  con- 
trolled himself  and  adopted  the  Socratic  method 
of  asking  questions. 

"  There  was  a  regular  license  for  that  marriage, 
was  there  not  ?  " 

The  lawyer,  careful  not  to  commit  himself, 
answered : 

"  I  really  don't  know,  I  suppose  there  was.  I 
never  saw  the  document." 

"  Is  a  license  necessary  to  the  validity  of  a  mar- 
riage in  New  York  State?"  asked  Rhett. 

"  Well  —  no,"  answered  the  other. 

"  Were  not  Edward  Cameron's  mother  and 
Edward  Cameron's  sister  present  at  that  marriage, 
consenting  to  it,  and  urging  and  instigating  it?  " 

"  On  those  points  I  am  not  informed." 

"  Then  as  a  lawyer  you  seem  to  me  strangely 
remiss.  Pardon  me  if  I  say  that  while  I  do  not 
believe  your  statement,  I  recognize  your  right, 
diplomatically,  to  withhold  that  bit  of  informa- 
tion. Fortunately  I  am  able  to  prove  the  facts, 
not  only  by  the  hospital  attendants  who  were 
there,  but  also  by  many  autographic  letters 
written,  before  and  after  the  event,  by  Edward 


A  GENTLEMAN'S  ULTIMATUM  359 

Cameron's  mother  to  Hazel  Cameron.  So  I  have 
no  need  of  admissions  from  you." 

This  was  a  pure  guess  on  Rhett's  part.  Hazel 
had  told  him  nothing  whatever  about  any  letters 
that  had  passed  between  her  and  Mrs.  Cameron ; 
but  knowing  as  he  did  the  propensity  of  women, 
especially  under  emotional  conditions,  to  write 
letters  to  each  other,  he  very  safely  assumed  the 
existence  of  the  letters. 

"  However,  we  will  not  discuss  that  matter  fur- 
ther. What  is  it  that  you  want  Hazel  Cameron 
to  do?" 

"  Well,  I  have  come  down  here  to  see  if  we 
couldn't  amicably  adjust  the  matters  in  dispute, 
and,  under  instruction  of  my  client,  I  am  prepared 
to  deal  very  generously  with  Miss  —  or  Mrs.  — 
Cameron,  if  I  may  see  her." 

"  And  precisely  what  is  your  notion  of  generous 
dealing  in  such  a  case?"  asked  Rhett.  "  You 
see,  as  we  are  dealing  with  matters  of  law  and 
equity,  and  as  you  are  a  lawyer,  while  I  am  not,  it 
is  desirable  to  agree  upon  the  precise  meaning  of 
terms.  Would  you  mind  saying  exactly  what  you 
mean?" 


360      LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  Well,  of  course,  under  the  circumstances,  we 
are  prepared  to  concede  that  Miss  Cameron  is 
entitled  to  some  consideration.  She  has  relin- 
quished the  legacy  left  her  by  Edward  Cameron's 
mother,  and  —  " 

"  Has  she?" 

"  Yes.  She  agreed  with  Miss  Beatrice  Cam- 
eron about  that." 

"  Have  you  the  papers  with  you?  And  may  I 
look  at  them?" 

"  There  are  no  papers.  The  two  women  agreed 
upon  that,  but  Miss  or  Mrs.  Hazel  Cameron  left 
New  York  so  suddenly  that  the  papers  were  not 
signed." 

"Have  you  anything  to  show  for  that?  You 
see,  as  Hazel  Cameron's  attorney,  I  must  take 
nothing  for  granted,  and  particularly  nothing  to 
the  detriment  of  her  interests." 

"  Surely  she  will  not  deny  the  conversation  —  " 

"  Pardon  me.  It  is  not  a  question  of  what  she 
will  deny  or  what  she  will  admit.  She  has  placed 
her  affairs  absolutely  in  my  hands,  and  I  have  no 
right  to  admit  anything,  until  evidence  of  it  is 
presented." 


A  GENTLEMAN'S  ULTIMATUM  361 

"  Well,  she  voluntarily  offered  to  relinquish  all 
claim  to  that  legacy.'* 

"What  papers  have  you  to  show  for  that?" 

"  None.     The  promise  was  oral." 

"And  therefore  worthless,"  said  Rhett. 
"Were  there  any  conditions?" 

"Well,  yes.  She  set  an  hour  at  which  the 
papers  should  be  brought  to  her  for  execution,  but 
as  I  was  engaged  in  court  that  day,  I  simply  could 
not  keep  the  appointment,  and  when  I  called  later 
Miss  —  or  Mrs.  —  Cameron  was  gone." 

"  I  really  do  not  see  what  I,  as  Hazel  Cameron's 
attorney  in  fact,  have  to  do  with  your  failure  to 
keep  an  appointment.  However,  that  is  a  matter 
aside  and  quite  indifferent.  What  is  it  that  you 
now  want  Hazel  Cameron  to  do?  I'm  not  a 
lawyer,  you  know,  but  a  plain  man  of  business. 
So  it  will  be  best  if  you  come  straight  to  the 
point  and  tell  me  in  simple  words  what  you 
want." 

"  That  is  precisely  what  I  wish  to  do,  Mr.  Rhett. 
You  see  we  wish  to  avoid  litigation  with  all  of  its 
unpleasant  features.  To  that  end  we  are  pre- 
pared to  deal  generously  with  Miss  —  or  Mrs.  — 


362    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

Cameron,  if  only  she  will  sign  certain  papers  that 
I  have  in  my  gripsack." 

"  Again  I  must  ask  you  what  you  mean  by 
*  dealing  generously.'  Would  you  mind  trans- 
lating that  into  terms  that  I  —  a  mere  business 
man  —  can  understand  ?  " 

"  Well,  we  are  prepared  to  settle  upon  Miss  — 
or  Mrs.  —  Hazel  Cameron,  an  income  of  five 
thousand  dollars  a  year  so  long  as  she  shall  live,  if 
she  will  relinquish  all  her  claims  upon  the  estate  of 
Edward  Cameron,  as  his  widow  —  I  should  say 
his  wife." 

"  When  did  Edward  Cameron  die  ?  "  asked 
Rhett,  catching  at  the  slip  of  the  tongue,  but  speak- 
ing in  a  tone  as  calm  and  even  as  if  he  had  been 
asking  at  what  hour  his  interlocutor  had  driven 
away  from  the  Court-House  village. 

"  Oh,  I  didn't  mean  to  imply  that  he  was 
dead !  "  exclaimed  the  other.  "  I  only  meant  —  " 

"  I  quite  understand.  The  truth  slipped  out 
by  sheer  accident.  When  did  Edward  Cameron 
die?" 

"  I  did  not  say  he  was  dead,"  said  the  lawyer. 

"  I  know  you  didn't.     But  you  may  as  well  tell 


A  GENTLEMAN'S  ULTIMATUM  363 

me  all  about  it  now,  for  by  a  brief  telegram  to  my 
partners  in  New  York  I  can  set  men  at  work  who 
will  to-morrow  telegraph  me  the  day  and  the  hour 
and  the  minute  of  his  death,  together  with  such 
details  as  I  may  desire  as  to  his  funeral,  his  will, 
and  all  the  rest  of  it.  Come,  man !  Tell  me  the 
truth.  When  did  Edward  Cameron  die?  No 
matter  what  you  tell  me,  or  refuse  to  tell  me,  I 
shall  know  all  the  facts  within  twenty-four  or 
forty-eight  hours  at  furthest.  Now  we  may  as 
well  come  to  an  explicit  understanding.  Hazel 
Cameron's  affairs  are  absolutely  in  my  hands. 
Without  in  any  way  consulting  her  or  permitting 
you  to  see  her,  I  am  going  to  insist  upon  every 
shadow  of  right  that  is  hers.  Neither  you  nor 
your  client  shall  in  any  way  smirch  her  name  by 
the  pretence  that  there  was  aught  of  fraud  or 
falsity  in  her  marriage  with  Edward  Cameron. 
His  sister  knows,  and  you  know,  that  she  entered 
into  that  marriage  very  reluctantly,  and  only  in 
response  to  the  earnest,  passionate  pleadings  of 
himself,  his  sister,  and  his  mother.  Your  client 
wants  to  represent  her  as  an  adventuress  who  took 
advantage  of  his  condition  to  secure  the  rights  of 


364    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

a  wife  in  his  estate.  You  propose  to  pay  her  for 
relinquishing  her  claim  to  be  an  honest  widow  — 
that  is  to  say,  you  propose  to  pay  her  blackmail, 
and  treat  her  as  a  blackmailer  who  must  be 
silenced.  You  shall  do  nothing  of  the  kind.  She 
will  fight  this  thing  out  in  the  courts,  yielding  no 
jot  or  tittle  of  her  right." 

"  Allow  me  to  suggest  that  that  will  be  very 
expensive,"  said  Farlow. 

"  And  your  client  is  reckoning  upon  the  fact  that 
Hazel  Cameron  has  no  money  as  her  safeguard? 
Very  well.  You  are  reckoning  without  your  host. 
I  told  you  awhile  ago  that  I  am  Hazel  Cameron, 
and  it  so  happens  that  I  have  not  only  a  comfort- 
ably fat  bank  account,  but  a  business  that  pays  me 
every  year  more  money  than  I  can  conveniently 
dispose  of.  It  will  be  something  more  than  a 
pleasure  to  me  to  pay  the  cost  of  whatever  litiga- 
tion this  controversy  may  involve.  I  shall  con- 
front you  with  the  very  ablest  lawyers  at  the  New 
York  bar,  and  at  every  step  I  shall  fight  you  for 
Hazel  Cameron's  good  name.  Pardon  me  a 
moment." 

With  that  he  went  to  the  desk  in  the  hall  and 


A  GENTLEMAN'S  ULTIMATUM  365 

wrote  something  on  a  sheet  of  paper.  At  the 
dining-room  door  he  spoke  to  Henry: 

"  Have  one  of  the  chaps  bring  the  palfrey,  and 
carry  this  message  to  the  Court-House,"  he  said. 
Then,  turning  to  the  lawyer,  he  handed  him  the 
despatch  he  had  written.  It  read  in  this  wise: 

"  Retain  best  lawyers  in  New  York  for  me  in 
case  of  Cameron  against  Cameron.  Get  Evarts, 
Southmayd  &  Choate,  Carter,  Coudert,  Sands, 
Bowers,  and  whoever  else  is  best  —  all  that  are 
best.  It  is  a  fight  for  a  good  name.  Money 
doesn't  figure  in  it.  Do  this  to-day.  All  expense 
mine." 

"  There !  "  he  said.  "  Now  you  understand 
in  what  spirit  and  with  what  determination  I  am 
going  to  fight  this  thing  to  a  finish.  My  sole  con- 
cern is  for  Hazel  Cameron's  good  name.  In 
defence  of  that  I  am  prepared  to  spend  ten  times 
the  money  that  may  be  coming  to  her  from  Mrs. 
Cameron's  legacy  and  from  Edward  Cameron's 
estate.  I  know  nothing  of  court  procedure,  but 
that  telegram  —  here,  Jake,"  to  the  negro  boy  who 
had  ridden  up  on  the  palfrey,  "  take  this  tele- 
gram to  the  Court-House  and  have  it  sent  off  at 


366    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

once.  Here's  a  two-dollar  bill.  Pay  for  it  out  of 
that." 

Then  he  turned  to  the  lawyer  and  said: 

"  Now  I've  given  you  my  whole  case.  What  is 
yours?  I've  told  you  what  I  mean  to  do.  Now 
be  a  good  fellow  and  tell  me  in  return  what  your 
programme  is." 

Farlow  hesitated  for  awhile,  and  then,  carefully 
weighing  his  words,  said : 

"It  is  always  the  policy  of  our  firm  to  settle 
things  out  of  court  —  by  compromise.  It  saves 
friction  and  hard  feeling  and  expense.  Why 
should  we  not  agree  upon  a  compromise  in  this 
case?" 

Rhett  rose,  emptied  his  pipe,  refilled  it,  and 
called  to  a  negro  chap  to  bring  him  a  coal  from  the 
kitchen  with  which  to  light  it  anew.  Only  after 
that  was  done  did  he  reply,  and  then  it  was 
interrogatively. 

"  Does  it  occur  to  you  to  reflect  what  a  com- 
promise means  in  a  case  like  this  ?  " 

"  Well,  for  one  thing,  it  means  a  great  sav- 
ing of  expense  and  worry,  and  all  the  rest  of 
it." 


A  GENTLEMAN'S  ULTIMATUM  367 

"  Those  are  details  of  no  importance  whatever. 
I  am  prepared  to  take  upon  myself  the  expense, 
the  worry,  and  all  the  rest  of  it.  But  a  compro- 
mise would  mean  something  else.  It  would  be 
an  admission  of  dishonor.  Hazel  Cameron,  in 
perfectly  good  faith  and  very  reluctantly,  mar- 
ried Edward  Cameron.  Edward  Cameron's 
mother,  at  whose  earnest  solicitation  Hazel  con- 
sented to  the  marriage,  took  the  girl  to  her  heart 
as  a  daughter,  and  when  she  died,  she  left  her  a 
legacy  as  a  testimonial  of  her  affection  and  her 
esteem.  Every  step  that  has  since  been  taken  by 
your  client  has  been  in  derogation  of  Hazel  Cam- 
eron's dignity,  and  in  denial  of  the  sincerity  of 
her  action  and  attitude.  That  is  something  that 
I  will  not  tolerate.  Any  compromise  —  even 
though  it  should  abate  no  more  than  one  dollar, 
or  one  cent,  of  Hazel  Cameron's  claim  —  would 
be  an  acknowledgment  by  her,  or  on  her  behalf, 
that  her  position  and  her  rights  were  open  to  some 
sort  of  question.  I  will  consent  to  nothing  of  the 
kind.  Whatever  else  happens,  her  reputation 
must  be  protected  from  every  shadow  of  sus- 
picion, and  fortunately  I  am  in  a  position  to  do 


368    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

that  perfectly.  I  shall  see  to  it  that  the  case  is 
made  clear." 

"What,  then,  do  you  insist  upon?"  asked 
Farlow;  and  he  made  haste  to  add:  "  You  see 
our  firm  always  regards  a  settlement  out  of  court 
as  preferable  to  litigation,  and  we  shall  advise  our 
client  to  consent  to  any  reasonable  terms  that  will 
avoid  a  contest  in  the  courts." 

"  What  I  insist  upon  is  this :  that  Hazel  Cam- 
eron's rights,  both  as  the  legatee  of  Edward 
Cameron's  mother,  and  as  the  lawful  widow  of 
Edward  Cameron,  shall  be  fully  recognized ;  that 
the  legacy  left  her  by  the  elder  Mrs.  Cameron  in 
the  will  of  which  your  client,  Miss  Beatrice  Cam- 
eron, is  executrix,  shall  be  promptly  paid  to  her; 
that  her  rights  of  dower  in  Edward  Cameron's 
estate  shall  be  recognized,  and  the  sums  due  her 
on  that  account  paid.  Those  are  my  terms,  and 
I  shall  insist  upon  them  without  any  shadow  of 
turning  —  because  in  that  way  only  can  Hazel 
Cameron's  womanhood  be  vindicated  against  the 
aspersions  your  client  has  wantonly  cast  upon  it." 

"  Your  demand  is  a  merciless  one,"  said  the 
lawyer. 


A  GENTLEMAN'S  ULTIMATUM  369 

"  Yes  —  as  merciless  as  the  multiplication 
table.  I  have  meant  that  it  should  be  so. 
Now  understand  me.  It  is  not  money  that  we 
fight  for  in  this  case,  for  not  one  dollar  or  one 
penny  of  the  money  involved  will  Hazel  Cameron 
ever  use  for  herself.  Every  dollar  of  it  will  go  to 
the  Children's  Aid  Society,  the  Home  for  Incur- 
ables, the  Actors'  Benevolent  Fund,  and  other 
charities.  But  every  dollar  of  it  must  be  paid 
into  her  hands,  to  do  with  as  she  pleases.  That 
is  my  ultimatum.  If  your  client  accepts  it  there 
will  be  peace.  If  she  refuses  there  will  be  war, 
with  Warren  Rhett  for  commander-in-chief  of  the 
enemy's  forces,  and  with  the  very  ablest  lieutenant- 
generals  that  the  bar  of  New  York  can  furnish  for 
the  campaign.  Now  which  shall  it  be  —  peace 
or  war?" 

Farlow  hesitated  before  answering.  After 
awhile  he  said : 

"  On  the  whole,  I  should  advise  peace  —  and  I 
think  that  would  be  the  advice  of  my  firm.  But 
there  are  difficulties." 

"  I  quite  understand  that,"  answered  Rhett. 
"  You  mean  that  your  client  has  taken  out  letters 


370    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

of  administration  upon  her  brother's  estate,  and 
incidentally  has  sworn  that  he  was  unmarried? 
Of  course  he  left  a  will,  but  he  made  his  mother 
his  executrix,  and  she  died  before  he  did  —  so 
that  his  sister,  as  next  of  kin,  and  indeed  as  the 
only  kin,  applied  for  letters  of  administration 
and  got  them." 

Warren  Rhett  was  "  fishing  "  for  information. 
He  knew  absolutely  nothing  of  what  had  been 
done  in  the  case,  but  he  shrewdly  guessed  it  all, 
and  confidently  set  it  forth  as  a  body  of  facts  that 
served  to  explain  the  difficulties  of  which  the 
lawyer  had  spoken.  As  his  conjecture  was  par- 
tially, though  not  wholly  correct,  it  served  his 
purpose  well. 

Farlow  was  the  senior  member  of  his  firm,  and 
he  was  a  thoroughly  well- equipped  lawyer.  He 
saw  clearly  how  completely  Warren  Rhett  was 
master  of  the  situation  in  this  case.  He  asked 
Rhett's  permission  to  stroll  about  the  grounds 
alone  for  awhile,  in  order  that  he  might  think  out 
a  course  of  action. 

"Certainly,"  answered  Rhett.  "You  shall 
stroll  to  your  heart's  content,  or  if  you  prefer  I 


A  GENTLEMAN'S  ULTIMATUM  371 

will  have  you  shown  to  a  room  where  you  shall  be 
uninterrupted  while  you  think.  At  this  moment 
I  see  Henry  coming  to  announce  dinner.  Let  us 
dismiss  the  whole  matter  while  we  eat.  After 
dinner  you  shall  be  left  alone  in  any  fashion  that 
suits  you,  and  for  so  long  as  you  please.  But 
during  dinner  let  us  forget  everything  but  good 
fellowship." 

Before  ushering  his  guest  into  the  dining-room, 
Rhett  briefly  spoke  apart  with  Diana. 

"  Tell  your  Miss  Hazel  if  she  is  awake,  that  she 
is  not  to  come  below  stairs  upon  any  account  until 
you  notify  her  that  this  man  is  gone.  Take  her 
dinner  up  to  her  on  a  tray." 

Diana,  proud  of  her  responsibility,  gave  assur- 
ances of  her  faithfulness  and  her  discretion,  and 
the  two  gentlemen  went  to  dinner. 


XXIV 

HAZEL  INTERRUPTS 

WHEN  the  dinner  was  over  Farlow  and 
Rhett  lighted  their  long- stemmed  pipes, 
with  a  chap  in  attendance  to  renew  the 
coals  from  the  kitchen  whenever  renewal  should 
be  needed.  Farlow  was  obviously  thinking,  and 
Rhett  gave  him  the  fullest  possible  leisure  in 
which  to  think.  He  was  satisfied  that  he  had 
given  him  adequate  occasion  for  thought.  Sev- 
eral times  the  lawyer  strolled  out  into  the  house 
grounds,  while  Rhett  sat  still  in  the  porch,  await- 
ing results  with  that  calm  self-confidence  which 
is  apt  to  dominate  the  mind  of  a  man  who  feels 
and  knows  that  his  case  is  one  in  which  no  possible 
loophole  can  be  discovered. 

Finally  Farlow,  relighting  his  pipe,  seated  him- 
self in  a  large  oaken  armchair  and  reopened  the 
conversation. 

372 


HAZEL  INTERRUPTS  373 

"  I  may  as  well  say  to  you,"  he  began,  "  that 
in  certain  details  your  conjectures  are  inaccurate. 
My  client  is  executor  of  her  mother's  will,  as  you 
have  assumed,  but  no  will  of  Edward  Cameron's 
has  been  found,  and  as  yet  no  application  has  been 
made  for  letters  of  administration  upon  his  estate. 
We  advised  against  that,  until  such  time  as  mat- 
ters could  be  adjusted  with  Miss  —  or  Mrs.  — 
Hazel  Cameron." 

"  Might  I  inquire  why  you  gave  that  advice? 
Was  it  because  your  client  had  destroyed  the  will 
that  you  say  has  not  been  found,  thereby  lay- 
ing herself  liable  to  criminal  prosecution?  You 
needn't  answer  that  question  unless  you  choose. 
I  can  easily  discover  all  the  facts  for  myself,  and  I 
recognize  your  right  to  maintain  silence." 

Farlow,  as  if  sorely  beset  with  perplexing  un- 
certainty, again  strolled  out  into  the  grounds. 
Returning  presently,  he  said  : 

"  Mr.  Rhett,  you  know  how  arbitrarily  and  un- 
advisedly women  sometimes  act  in  a  case  like  this. 
You  are  a  chivalrous  gentleman,  and  I  want  to 
remind  you  that  it  is  a  helpless  woman  you  are 
dealing  with  in  this  case.  You  have  taken  pains 


374    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

strongly  to  impress  it  upon  my  mind  that  it  is  not 
money  your  client  is  combating  for,  but  dignity, 
recognition  of  right,  and  all  else  that  concerns  her 
as  a  woman.  Now,  without  even  consulting  my 
partners  —  for  this  case  is  completely  in  my  hands 
—  I  am  going  to  make  an  appeal  to  you,  for  mercy 
to  a  woman  who  may  have  been  unjust,  and  who 
may  have  made  mistakes  of  a  more  serious  char- 
acter. I  do  not  say  that  she  has  done  either.  I 
only  say  that  she  may  have  done  both.  Now  sup- 
pose she  should  be  willing  to  make  every  possible 
atonement  —  to  put  Miss  —  or  Mrs.  —  Hazel 
Cameron  securely  in  possession  of  all  her  rights 
and  dignities,  so  that  no  breath  of  scandal  or 
suspicion  shall  ever  fall  upon  her  —  now  in  that 
case  would  you  not  enter  into  some  arrangement 
whereby  we  may  avoid  a  litigation  that  might 
involve  very  uncomfortable  consequences  to  the 
gentlewoman  who  is  my  client  ?  I  appeal  to  your 
generosity  of  mind." 

Rhett  answered  promptly :  "  I  have  no  dispo- 
sition to  persecute  Miss  Beatrice  Cameron,  and 
certainly  the  gentlewoman  whom  I  represent  has 
no  such  disposition.  If  you  can  devise  a  means 


HAZEL  INTERRUPTS  375 

by  which  Hazel  Cameron's  marital  rights  shall  be 
absolutely  and  unequivocally  recognized  by  Miss 
Beatrice  Cameron  —  recognized,  I  mean,  in  a 
way  of  which  the  law  and  the  courts  would  take 
cognizance  —  I  shall  certainly  not  feel  moved  to 
proceed  to  extremities,  and  to  prosecute  Miss 
Beatrice  Cameron  for  having  destroyed  her 
brother's  will." 

"  You  will  bear  witness,  Mr.  Rhett,  that  I  have 
not  admitted  the  destruction  of  the  will." 

"  Oh,  of  course,  and  very  willingly.  I  have 
other  and  quite  adequate  means  of  information. 
But  let  me  complete  what  I  was  saying.  The 
recognition  of  Hazel  Cameron's  rights  must  come 
from  Miss  Beatrice  Cameron,  and  it  must  be  com- 
plete, exhaustive,  and  unequivocal.  It  must  be  ac- 
companied by  a  certified  check  for  the  amount  of 
Mrs.  Cameron's  legacy  to  Hazel  Cameron,  and  by 
a  request  that  Hazel  Cameron,  as  the  widow  of  Ed- 
ward Cameron,  shall  take  out  letters  of  administra- 
tion upon  his  estate.  When  such  a  request  comes, 
accompanied  by  the  certified  check  I  have  men- 
tioned, you  shall  have  such  reply  as  Hazel  Cam- 
eron, acting  under  my  advice,  shall  see  fit  to  give." 


376    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

"  Then  you  demand  that  we  shall  give  up  our 
whole  case  ?  " 

"  I  don't  think  you  have  any  case.  For  the 
rest,  I  demand  that  everything  which  has  been 
done  to  humiliate  Hazel  Cameron,  and  to  cast 
reflection  of  wrong-doing  upon  her,  shall  be  un- 
done. Miss  Beatrice  Cameron  practically  ordered 
her  out  of  her  house  after  her  mother's  death,  and 
before  her  mother's  funeral.  In  return  Miss 
Beatrice  Cameron  must  send  her  an  invitation  to 
be  her  guest  in  that  house,  with  no  conditions 
whatever,  and  the  invitation  must  be  a  warmly 
cordial  one.  Those  are  my  terms.  It  is  that  or 
a  fight  to  a  finish  in  the  courts." 

"  And  what  do  you  promise  in  return  for  all 
these  concessions  ?  " 

"  Absolutely  nothing  whatsoever.  I  am  not 
bargaining.  I  am  dictating  terms  of  surrender. 
You  and  your  client  can  accept  or  reject  them  at 
will.  You  can  have  peace  or  war  as  you  please. 
But  if  you  choose  war,  it  shall  be  war  in 
earnest." 

Farlow  sat  silent  for  awhile.     Then  he  said : 

"  I  wonder  if  you  would  let  me  hold  this  matter 


HAZEL  INTERRUPTS  377 

open  until  to-morrow  afternoon.  I  want  to  com- 
municate by  telegraph  with  my  partners  and  my 
client  —  in  cipher  of  course,  so  that  there  shall  be 
no  scandal  bred  at  the  Court-House." 

"  Certainly.  There  is  no  hurry.  Come  over 
to  dinner  to-morrow  afternoon,  and  tell  me  what 
your  answer  is.  I  should  urge  you  to  stay  over- 
night except  that  you  want  to  telegraph.  And  by 
the  way,  even  that  can  be  managed,  if  you  have 
your  private  cipher  code  with  you.  You  can 
write  your  despatches  here  and  I  will  send  messen- 
gers to  the  Court-House  with  them,  and  with  in- 
structions to  the  station-master  to  send  all  replies 
to  you  here." 

"  No,  I  think  I  shall  go  back  to  the  tavern.  I 
can  think  more  calmly  there.  But  I  want  to  say 
to  you,  Mr.  Rhett,  that  Miss  Beatrice  Cameron  is 
a  very  ill  woman  —  largely  in  consequence  of 
these  complexities,  and  that  it  may  require  some 
time  to  fulfil  your  conditions,  if  indeed  we  can 
fulfil  them  at  all." 

"  I  am  very  sorry,"  he  said.  "  Pray  give  her 
all  the  time  she  may  want,  and  assure  her  that  all 
I  demand  is  the  complete  exoneration  of  Hazel 


378    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

Cameron  from  all  charges  of  mercenary  self-seek- 
ing. That  exoneration  I  must  insist  upon." 

Fifteen  minutes  before  this  time,  the  negro  boy 
whose  function  it  was  to  bring  the  mail  from  the 
Court-House,  had  ridden  up  to  the  back  door  and 
delivered  his  parcel  of  letters.  One  of  these  had 
been  sent  up  to  Hazel.  Just  as  the  two  men  stood 
there  awaiting  the  coming  from  the  stable  of  the 
vehicle  that  was  to  bear  Mr.  Farlow  away,  Hazel 
descended  the  stairs  and  confronted  the  pair. 

"  I  think  you  two  gentlemen  need  not  go  any 
further  with  your  negotiations,"  she  said ;  "  War- 
ren, I  wish  you  would  order  the  carriage  for  ten 
o'clock  to-night.  I  am  going  to  New  York  by  the 
eleven  o'clock  train." 

And  by  way  of  explanation  she  handed  to  him 
the  letter  she  had  received. 

"  Read  that,"  she  said,  "  and  you  will  under- 
stand." 

The  letter  was  from  Beatrice  Cameron,  and  he 
read  it  eagerly  — the  more  so  because,  instead  of 
a  formal  address,  it  began  "  My  Dear  Sister." 

The  letter  went  on: 

"  I  have  longed  to  write  to  you,  but  I  have  not 


HAZEL  INTERRUPTS  379 

known  where  you  were  until  now.  I  want  you  to 
forgive  me  —  and  if  you  can,  I  want  you  to  love 
me.  I  am  ill  —  unto  death  I  think  —  and  I  want 
to  see  you  and  hear  from  your  own  lips  that  I  am 
forgiven.  I  beg  you  to  come  to  me.  For  Ed- 
ward's sake,  for  the  sake  of  the  memory  of  my 
mother  who  loved  you  and  whom  you  loved,  I  beg 
you  to  come  to  me  and  tell  me  you  forgive  me.  It 
is  fittest  that  I  should  go  to  you,  because  I  am  the 
offender  and  not  you  —  but  I  am  helpless,  bed- 
ridden, hopelessly  incapable  of  activity  of  any 
kind.  Will  you  not,  in  your  great  generosity  of 
soul,  come  to  me  in  my  hour  of  need  and  tell  me 
you  forgive?  I  am  too  nervous,  too  weak,  too 
utterly  helpless  to  write  more  particularly.  I  can 
only  say  I  am  sorry,  and  ask  you  to  forgive.  If  I 
must  die,  as  I  think  I  must,  I  want  your  arms 
about  me  at  the  last,  so  that  I  may  feel  that  the 
wrong  I  did  you  is  forgiven." 

When  he  handed  the  letter  back  to  Hazel  after 
reading  it,  Rhett  said : 

"  You  are  right.     Go!" 

"  Yes,"  she  answered,  "  '  Love  is  the  sum  of  it 
all.' " 


380    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

Turning  to  Farlow,  the  girl  said: 

"  You  came  here  as  a  lawyer,  representing  my 
sister,  Beatrice  Cameron.  There  is  no  longer 
any  controversy  between  her  and  me.  I  am  go- 
ing to  New  York  to-night  to  care  for  her  in  her 
illness.  You  and  Mr.  Rhett  need  not  go  further 
with  your  negotiations.  When  she  and  I  throw 
our  arms  about  each  other  lovingly,  there  will  be 
nothing  to  settle.  But  you,  Mr.  Farlow,  must 
remain  to  supper.  Mr.  Rhett  will  have  one  of 
the  servants  drive  your  horse  back  to  the  Court- 
House,  and  you  will  ride  back  with  him  and  me 
in  the  Mannamac  carriage." 

"  And  may  I  escort  you  to  New  York  ?  "  he 
asked. 

"  Mr.  Rhett  will  escort  me,  I  think,"  she  said, 
and  Rhett  answered  promptly,  "  Of  course," 
whereupon  she  added  : 

"  But  we  shall  be  glad  to  have  you  with  us  as  a 
member  of  the  party,  Mr.  Farlow." 

Seeing  that  he  had  at  no  time  been  introduced 
to  this  gracious  gentlewoman,  Farlow  thought  of 
her  courteous  recognition  of  himself  as  something 
peculiarly  "  complimentary."  That  was  the  word 


HAZEL  INTERRUPTS  381 

he  thought  of,  for  want  of  a  better  one  to  express 
his  appreciation  of  her  graciousness. 

He  remained  to  supper,  and  a  little  before  ten 
o'clock  the  three  set  out  to  catch  the  eleven  o'clock 
train  at  the  Court-House.  On  the  way  they  were 
silent,  except  that  Hazel  hummed  a  tune.  It  was 
the  melody  she  had  written  to  the  words :  "  Love 
is  the  sum  of  it  all." 

As  Farlow  was  present,  there  was,  naturally 
and  necessarily,  no  private  converse  between 
Warren  Rhett  and  Hazel  Cameron. 

Possibly  Hazel  had  meant  that  matters  should 
be  so  arranged.  Who  knows?  Who  erer  does 
know  what  a  woman  means,  particularly  when 
she  loves? 


XXV 

THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

IT  was  Warren  Rhett's  habit  to  do  things  and 
to  get  things  done.  The  moment  he  learned 
of  Hazel's  purpose  to  start  for  New  York  by 
the  eleven  o'clock  train,  he  reflected  that  the  Pull- 
man cars  on  that  train  were  scheduled  to  go  no 
farther  than  Richmond,  and  that  Hazel  would 
have  to  make  a  change  of  cars  there  at  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning.  He  went  to  the  desk  and  wrote 
some  telegrams.  He  sent  a  boy  with  them  to  the 
Court-House,  instructing  him  to  wait  for  replies. 
Just  before  the  little  party  entered  the  carriage 
the  answers  came  back.  Rhett  read  them  and 
said  to  Hazel  : 

"  I  have  engaged  the  stateroom  on  the  sleeping- 
car  for  you,  Hazel,  and  fortunately  you'll  not 
have  to  make  that  awkward  change  at  Richmond. 
The  car  will  go  through  to  New  York." 
382 


THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL  383 

"  You  arranged  that  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  Yes  —  why  not  ?  It  is  very  disagreeable  to 
change  cars  in  the  middle  of  the  night." 

The  two  were  talking  apart.  The  girl  looked 
at  him  intently,  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  but  she 
spoke  no  word.  Perhaps  she  could  not.  He 
bent  forward  and  caressed  her,  taking  his  suf- 
ficient answer  in  that  way.  Then  he  said  to  her : 

"  Edward  Cameron  has  gone  to  his  final  rest. 
You  are  all  mine  now." 

"  Yes  —  I  guessed  that,  and  I  am  all  yours 
now,  for  '  Love  is  the  sum  of  it  all.'  " 

In  New  York  Rhett  learned  that  his  firm's  bid 
for  the  Zambesi  bridges  had  been  accepted,  as  he 
had  anticipated  that  it  would  be.  He  sent  a  hur- 
ried note  to  Hazel,  saying : 

"  I  believe  you  like  travel.  My  firm  has  just 
secured  a  very  profitable  contract  to  build  some 
railroad  bridges  and  the  like  in  Africa.  One  of 
my  partners  will  superintend  the  construction 
work,  but  as  ours  is  a  very  short-time  contract,  I 
very  greatly  want  to  superintend  in  person  the 
landing  of  materials  at  Alexandria  and  their  ship- 


384     LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

ment  to  the  interior.  Why  should  we  not  be 
married  at  once  and  sail  for  the  Mediterranean 
immediately?  If  you  like,  when  we  get  there, 
we'll  get  a  dahabeah  —  that's  a  kind  of  boat 
you  know  —  and  go  up  to  the  second  •  cataract 
of  the  Nile.  I  think  the  trip  will  rest  and 
interest  you.  But  we  must  decide  quickly." 

For  reply  Hazel  wrote  back : 

"  It  shall  be  as  you  say.  Henceforth  erery  thing 
shall  be  as  you  say,  for  '  Love  is  the  sum  of  it 
all,'  and  I  am  very  happy." 

While  waiting  for  her  answer  Rhett  telegraphed 
to  Kate  asking: 

"  When  are  you  and  Charley  to  be  married  ?  " 

Kate,  whose  inconsequent  way  of  thinking  had 
never  acquired  the  smallest  respect  for  tele- 
graphic brevity,  replied  by  wire: 

"  How  in  the  world  did  you  guess  our  secret  ? 
I  rather  think  Hazel  did  that.  Anyhow,  it  is  very 
disappointing,  because  we  intended  to  surprise 
you  with  it.  We'll  be  married  the  day  before 
Christmas,  or  rather  that  was  our  plan  till  to-day, 
when  Charley  came  over  to  tell  me  we  must  be 


THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL  385 

married  three  days  sooner  because  he  has  a  case 
or  something  in  Washington  that  will  come  on  for 
a  hearing  or  something  else  very  dignified.  I 
can't  make  it  clear  in  a  telegram,  but  perhaps 
you'll  understand,  though  I  don't.  Anyhow,  you 
and  Hazel  are  to  come  home  for  the  occasion 
because  we  sha'n't  feel  as  if  we  were  really  mar- 
ried unless  you  two  are  here  to  sanction  the  pro- 
ceeding. By  the  way,  please  ask  Hazel  to  buy 
me  some  rose-colored  silk  —  she'll  know  what 
it's  for  and  you  sha'n't  know,  because  you're  a 
mere  man.  Tell  her  I  want  six  yards,  and  she 
knows  the  exact  shade. 

"  When  are  you  two  coming  home  ?  " 
•        •••••••• 

Rhett  replied : 

"  Sorry,  but  we  are  not  coming  home.  Going 
to  Africa  on  wedding  journey.  Details  by  mail." 

Then  he  called  a  stenographer  and  dictated  a 
letter  to  Charles  Danforth,  in  which  he  ex- 
plained the  plans  he  had  made  for  the  conversion 
of  Mannamac  plantation  into  a  vast  market 
garden,  with  Italians  to  cultivate  it. 

"  I  invented  that  scheme,"  he  wrote,  "  as  a 


386    LOVE  IS  THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL 

solution  of  the  negro  problem,  but  it  isn't  anything 
of  the  kind.  Most  of  the  plantations  are  far  less 
favorably  situated  than  Mannamac,  with  its  easy 
access  to  the  Northern  markets  by  water.  But 
at  any  rate,  this  arrangement  will  solve  the  prob- 
lem of  making  Mannamac  pay  you  and  Kate  the 
income  it  ought  to  pay.  We  sail  for  the  Med- 
iterranean three  days  hence.  On  our  return  we 
shall  expect  to  be  invited  to  Mannamac.  If  we 
aren't,  we'll  go  there  anyhow.  You  know  I 
want  to  execute  papers  making  the  plantation 
entirely  Kate's,  by  relinquishing  my  absurd 
reversionary  interest  in  it." 

Having  finished  dictating  his  letter  to  Dan- 
forth,  Rhett  turned  to  his  desk  and  with  his  own 
hand  wrote  to  Hazel. 

"  I  have  employed  three  women  and  two  men," 
he  wrote,  "  to  make  all  arrangements  for  our 
marriage  in  Grace  Church  on  Tuesday  morning  at 
eight  o'clock.  We  will  drive  thence  directly  to 
our  ship,  which  sails  at  ten.  In  the  meantime  I 
want  you  to  go  down  to  Mrs.  T.  Lynch's  —  you 
know  where  it  is  —  and  buy  the  beautiful  string 
of  pearls  that  I  have  told  them  to  show  you,  and 


THE  SUM  OF  IT  ALL  387 

send  it  as  your  wedding  present  to  Kate.  /  shall 
send  her  nothing  except  something  like  a  car-load 
of  flowers  that  I  have  ordered  expressed  from 
Richmond.  I  enclose  a  check  with  which  you 
are  to  pay  for  the  pearls." 

The  ship  was  well  out  at  sea  when  Hazel  said : 

"  It  seems  a  pity,  Warren,  that  you  couldn't 
have  stayed  at  Mannamac  long  enough  to  see 
your  experiment  wrought  out." 

"  My  dear  Hazel,  so  far  as  results  are  con- 
cerned, my  visit  to  Mannamac  was  completely 
satisfactory.  Now  sing  it,  please." 

And,  to  her  own  accompaniment  on  the  guitar, 
she  sang :  "  Love  is  the  sum  of  it  all." 

The  passengers  thought  she  sang  with  unusual 
sympathy  and  appreciation  of  the  song. 

Warren  Rhett  thought  so,  too. 

THE  END. 


THE  GROSSET  AND  DUNLAP  SPECIAL 

EDITIONS  OF  POPULAR  NO  VELS  THA  T 

HAVE  BEEN  DRAMATIZED. 

BREWSTER'S    MILLIONS:      By    George    Barr 
McCutcheon. 

A  clever,  fascinating  tale,  with  a  striking  and  un- 
usual plot.  With  illustrations  from  the  original  New 
York  production  of  the  play. 

THE  LITTLE  MINISTER :    By  J.  M.  Barrie. 

With  illustrations  from  the  play  as  presented  by 
Maude  Adams,  and  a  vignette  in  gold  of  Miss  Adams 
on  the  cover. 

CHECKERS :     By  Henry  M.  Blossom,  Jr. 

A  story  of  the  Race  Track.  Illustrated  with  scenes 
from  the  play  as  originally  presented  in  New  York 
by  Thomas  Wr.  Ross  who  created  the  stage  character. 

THE  CHRISTIAN :    By  Hall  Caine. 
THE  ETERNAL  CITY :    By  Hall  Caine. 

Each  has  been  elaborately  and  successfully  staged. 

IN  THE  PALACE  OF  THE  KING:    By  F.  Marion 
Crawford. 

A  love  story  of  Old  Madrid,  with  full  page  illustra- 
tions.   Originally  played  with  great  success  by  Viola 
Allen. 
JANICE  MEREDITH :     By  Paul  Leicester  Ford. 

New  edition  with  an  especially  attractive  cover, 
a  really  handsome  book.  Originally  played  by  Mary 
Mannering,  who  created  the  title  role. 

These  books  are  handsomely  bound  in  cloth,  are 
well-made  in  every  respect,  and  aside  from  their  un- 
usual merit  as  stories,  are  particularly  interesting  to 
those  who  like  things  theatrical.  Price,  postpaid, 
seventy-five  cents  each. 

GROSSET    &    DUNLAP,    PUBLISHERS 
52  DUANE  STREET          ::          NEW  YORK 


2 'HE  GROSSET  AND  DUNLAP  SPECIAL 

EDITIONS  OF  POPULAR  NOVELS  THAT 

HA  VE  BEEN  DRAMATIZED. 

MISTRESS  NELL,  A  Merry  Tale  of  a 
Merry  Time.  (Twixt  Fact  and  Fancy.)  By  George 
Hazelton. 

A  dainty,  handsome  volume,  beautifully  printed 
on  fine  laid  paper  and  bound  in  extra  vellum 
cloth.  A  charming  story,  the  dramatic  version 
of  which,  as  produced  by  Henrietta  Crosman, 
was  one  of  the  conspicuous  stage  successes  of 
recent  years.  With  a  rare  portrait  of  Nell  Gwyn 
in  duotone,  from  an  engraving  of  the  painting  by 
Sir  Peter  Lely,  as  a  frontispiece. 

BY  RIGHT  OF  SWORD, 

By  Arthur  W.  Marchmont. 

With  full  page  illustrations,  by  Powell  Chase. 
This  clever  and  fascinating  tale  has  had  a  large 
sale  and  seems  as  popular  to-day  as  when  first 
published.  It  is  full  of  action  and  incident  and 
will  arouse  the  keen  interest  of  the  reader  at  the 
very  start.  The  dramatic  version  was  very  suc- 
cessfully produced  during  several  seasons  by 
Ralph  Stuart. 

These  books  are  handsomely  bound  in  cloth, 
are  well  made  in  every  respect,  and  aside  from 
their  unusual  merit  as  stories,  are  particularly  in- 
teresting to  those  who  like  things  theatrical. 
Price,  postpaid,  seventy-five  cents  each. 

GEOSSET    &    DUNLAP,    PUBLISHERS 
52  DUANE  STREET  ::          NEW  YORK 


THE   GROSSET  AND  DUNLAP  SPECIAL 
EDITIONS  OF  POPULAR  NO  VELS  THAT 
HA  VE  BEEN  DRAMATIZED. 

CAPE  COD  FOLKS:   By  Sarah  P.  McLean  Greene. 

Illustrated  with  scenes  from  the  play,  as  originally 
produced  at  the  Boston  Theatre. 

IF  I  WERE  KING  :    By  Justin  Huntly  McCarthy. 

Illustrations  from  the  play,  as  produced  by  E.  H. 
Sothern. 

DOROTHY  VERNON  OF  HADDON    HALL: 
By  Charles  Major. 

The  Bertha  Galland  Edition,  with  illustrations  from 
the  play. 

WHEN  KNIGHTHOOD  WAS    IN    FLOWER: 

By  Charles  Major. 

Illustrated  with  scenes  from  the  remarkably  suc- 
cessful play,  as  presented  by  Julia  Marlowe. 

THE  VIRGINIAN :    By  Owen  Wister. 

With  full  page  illustrations  by  A.  I.  Keller. 
Dustin  Farnum  has  made  the  play  famous  by  his 
creation  of  the  title  role. 

THE  MAN  ON  THE  BOX:    By  Harold  MacGrath. 

Illustrated  with  scenes  from  the  play,  as  originally 
produced  in  New  York,  by  Henry  E.  Dixey.  A  piquant, 
charming  story,  and  the  author's  greatest  success. 

These  books  are  handsomely  bound  in  cloth,  are 
well-made  in  every  respect,  and  aside  from  their  un- 
usual merit  as  stories,  are  particularly  interesting  to 
those  who  like  things  theatrical.  Price,  postpaid, 
seventy-five  cents  each. 

GKOSSET    &    DUNLAP,    PUBLISHERS 
r  52  DUANE  STREET  ::          NEW  YORK 


HERETOFORE  PUBLISHED  AT  $1.50 

BOOKS  BY  JACK  LONDON 

12  MO.,  CLOTH,  75  CENTS  EACH,  POSTPAID 
THE  CALL  OF  THE  WILD  : 

With  illustrations  by  Philip  R.  Goodwin  and  Charles  Living- 
ston Bull.       Decorated  by  Charles  Edward  Hooper. 
*'A  big  story  in  sober  English,  and  with  thorough  art  in  the 
construction  ...  a  wonderfully  perfect  bit  of  work.   The  dog 
adventures  are  as  exciting  as  any  man's  exploits  could  be,  and 
Mr.  London's  workmanship  is  wholly  satisfying." — The  New 
York  Sun. 
THE  SEA  WOLF  :     Illustrated  by  W.  J.  Aylward. 

"  This  story  surely  has  the  pure  Stevenson  ring,  the  adven- 
turous glamour,  the  vertebrate  stoicism.  '  Tis  surely  the  story 
of  the  making  of  a  man,  the  sculptor  being  Captain  Larsen, 
and  the  clay,  the  ease-loving,  well-to-do,  half-drowned  man, 
to  all  appearances  his  helpless  prey." — Critic. 

THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  ABYSS : 

A  vivid  and  intensely  interesting  picture  of  life,  as  the  an- 
thor  found  it,  in  the  slums  of  London.  Not  a  survey  of  im- 
pressions formed  on  a  slumming  tour,  but  a  most  graphic  ac- 
count of  real  life  from  one  who  succeeded  in  getting  on  the 
"inside."  More  absorbing  than  a  novel.  A  great  and  vital 
book.  Profusely  illustrated  from  photographs. 

THE  SON  OF  THE  WOLF : 

"  Even  the  most  listless  reader  will  be  stirred  by  the  virile 
force,  the  strong,  sweeping  strokes  with  which  the  pictures  of 
the  northern  wilds  and  the  life  therein  are  painted,  and  the  in- 
sight given  into  the  soul  of  the  primitive  of  nature."—  Plain 
Dealer,  Cleveland. 

A  DAUGHTER  OF  THE  SNOWS  : 

It  is  a  book  about  a  woman,  whose  personality  and  plan  in 
the  story  are  likely  to  win  for  her  a  host  of  admirers.  The 
story  has  the  rapid  movement,  incident  and  romantic  flavor 
which  have  interested  so  many  in  his  tales.  The  illustrations 
are  by  F.  C.  Yohn. 

GEOSSET    &    DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS 
52  DUANE  STREET  ::  NEW  YORK 


THE  JUNGLE,  BY  UPTON  SINCLAIR: 

A  book  that  startled  the  world  and  caused  two  hemi- 
spheres to  sit  up  and  think.  Intense  in  interest,  the 
dramatic  situations  portrayed  enthrall  the  reader,  while 
its  evident  realism  and  truth  to  life  and  conditions  have 
gained  for  it  the  title  of  "  The  *  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin '  of 
the  Twentieth  Century." 

"  I  should  be  afraid  to  trust  myself  to  tell  how  it  affects 
me.  It  is  a  great  work ;  so  simple,  so  true,  so  tragic,  so 
human." — David  Graham  Phillips. 

Cloth,  12  mo.     Price,  seventy-five  cents,  postpaid. 

NEW  POPULAR  PRICED  EDITIONS  OF  IM- 

PORTANT  BOOKS  ON  SOCIAL  AND 
POLITICAL   ECONOMY. 

BENJAMIN  KIDD, 

SOCIAL  EVOLUTION, 

PRINCIPLES   OF  WESTERN  CIVILISATION. 

Two  volumes  of  special  interest  and  importance,  in 
view  of  the  social  unrest  of  the  present  time. 

HENRY  GEORGE,  JR. 

THE  MENACE  OF  PRIVILEGE. 

A  study  of  the  dangers  to  the  Republic  from  the  exist- 
ence of  a  favored  class. 
ROBERT  HUNTER, 

POVERTY. 

An  exhaustive  study  of  present  day  conditions  among 
the  poorer  classes. 
JAMES  BRYCE, 

SOCIAL  INSTITUTIONS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.  < 

The  author's  recent  appointment  as  the  representative 
of  the  British  Empire  at  Washington  will  lend  additional 
interest  to  this  timely  and  important  work. 
RICHARD  T.  ELY, 

MONOPOLIES   AND  TRUSTS. 

A  masterly  presentation  of  the  Trust  Problem,  by  a 
most  eminent  authority. 

Price,  seventy-five  cents  each,  postpaid. 

GEOSSET    &    DUNLAP,    PUBLISHERS 
52  DUANE  STREET  ::  NEW  YORK 


THE    GROSSET  6-    DUNLAP  EDITIONS 

OF  GARDEN  BOOKS. 
Each  volume  in  cloth  binding.      Price,  postpaid,  750.  each. 

GARDEN  MAKING,  by  PROFESSOR  L.  H.  BAILEY, 
Professor  of  Horticulture,  Cornell  University. 
Suggestions    for    the    Utilizing    of    Home 
Grounds.       12  mo.,  cloth,  250  illustrations. 
Here  is  a  book  literally  "for  the  million"  who  in  broad 
America  have  some  love  for  growing  things.    It  is  useful  alike 
to  the  owner  of  a  suburban  garden  plot  and  to  the  owner  of  a 
"  little  place  "  in  the  country.      Written  by  the  Professor  of 
Horticulture  at  Cornell  University  it  tells  of  ornamental  gar- 
dening of  any  range,  treats  of  fruits  and  vegetables  for  home 
use,  and  cannot  fail  to  instruct,  inspire  and  educate  the  reader. 
THE  PRACTICAL  GARDEN  BOOK,    by  C.  E. 

HUNN  AND  L.  H.  BAILEY. 

Containing  the  simplest  directions  for  growing  the  common- 
est things  about  the  house  and  garden.  Profusely  illustrated. 
12  mo.,  cloth.  Just  the  book  for  the  busy  man  or  woman  who 
wants  the  most  direct  practical  information  as  to  just  how  to 
plant,  prune,  train  and  to  care  for  all  the  common  fruits,  flowers, 
vegetables,  or  ornamental  bushes  and  trees.  Arranged  alpha- 
betically, like  a  minature  encyclopedia,  it  has  articles  on  the 
making  of  lawns,  borders,  hot-beds,  window  gardening,  lists  of 
plants  for  particular  purposes,  etc. 

A  WOMAN'S   HARDY   GARDEN,    by  HELENA 
RUTHERFURD  ELY.      With  forty-nine  illustra- 
tions from  photographs  taken  in  the  author's 
garden  by  Prof.  C.  F.  Chandler.   1 2  mo.,  cloth. 
A  superbly  illustrated  volume,  appealing  especially  to  the 
many  men  and  women  whose  love  of  flowers  and  all  things 
green  is  a  passion  so  strong  that  it  often  seems  to  be  a  sort  of 
primal  instinct,  coming  down  through  generation  after  genera- 
tion from  the  first  man  who  was  put  into  a  garden  "  to  dress  it 
and  keep  it."     The  instructions  as  to  planting,  maintenance, 
etc.,  are  clear  and  comprehensive,  and  can  be  read  and  prac- 
ticed with  profit  by  both  amateur  and  professional. 

GROSSET    &    DUNLAP,     PUBLISHERS 
2  DUANE  STREET  ::  NEW  YORK 


PRINCESS  MARITZA 

A  NOVEL  OF  RAPID  ROMANCE. 

BY  PERCY  BREBNER 
With  Harrison  Fisher  Illustrations  in  Color. 

*"  Offers  more  real  entertainment  and  keen  enjoyment  than 
any  book  since  "  Graustark."  Full  of  picturesque  life  and 
color  and  a  delightful  love-story.  The  scene  of  the  story  is 
Wallaria,  one  of  those  mythical  kingdoms  in  Southern  Europe. 
Maritza  is  the  rightful  heir  to  the  throne,  but  is  kept  away  from 
her  own  country.  The  hero  is  a  young  Englishman  of  noble 
family.  It  is  a  pleasing  book  of  fiction.  Large  12  mo.  size. 
Handsomely  bound  in  cloth.  White  coated  wrapper,  with 
Harrison  Fisher  portrait  in  colors.  Price  75  cents,  postpaid. 

Books  by  George  Barr  McCutcheon 

BREWSTER'S  MILLIONS 

Mr.  Montgomery  Brewster  is  required  to  spend  a  million 
dollars  in  one  year  in  order  to  inherit  seven  millions.  He  must 
be  absolutely  penniless  at  that  time,  and  yet  have  spent  the 
million  in  a  way  that  will  commend  him  as  fit  to  inherit  the 
larger  sum.  How  he  does  it  forms  the  basis  for  one  of  the 
most  crisp  and  breezy  romances  of  recent  years. 
CASTLE  CRANEYCROW 

The  story  revolves  around  the  abduction  of  a  young  Ameri- 
can woman  and  the  adventures  created  through  her  rescue. 
The  title  is  taken  from  the  name  of  an  old  castle  on  the  Con- 
tinent, the  scene  of  her  imprisonment. 
GRAUSTARK:  A  Story  of  a  Love  Behind  a  Throne. 

This  work  has  been  and  is  to-day  one  of  the  most  popular 
works  of  fiction  of  this  decade.  The  meeting  of  the  Princess 
of  Graustark  with  the  hero,  while  travelling  incognito  in  this 
country,  his  efforts  to  find  her,  his  success,  the  defeat  of  con- 
spiracies to  dethrone  her,  and  their  happy  marriage,  provide 
entertainment  which  every  type  of  reader  will  enjoy. 
THE  SHERRODS.  With  illustrations  by  C.  D.Williams 

A  novel  quite  unlike  Mr.  McCutcheon's  previous  works  in 
the  field  of  romantic  fiction  and  yet  possessing  the  charm  in- 
separable from  anything  he  writes.  The  scene  is  laid  in  In- 
diana and  the  theme  is  best  described  in  the  words,  "  Whom 
God  hath  joined,  let  no  man  put  asunder." 

Each  volume  handsomely  bound  in  cloth.  Large  izmo.  size. 
Price  75  cents  per  volume,  postpaid. 

GEOSSET  &  DUNLAP,  PUBLISHERS 
52  DUANE  STREET  ::  NEW  YORK 


FAMOUS  COPYRIGHT   BOOKS 
IN   POPULAR   PRICED   EDITIONS 

Re-issues  of  the  great^iterary  successes  of  the  time.  Library 
size.  Printed  on  excellent  paper — most  of  them  with  illustra- 
tions of  marked  beauty — and  handsomely  bound  in  cloth. 
Price,  75  cents  a  volume,  postpaid. 

BEVERLY  OF  GRAUSTARK.  By  George  Barr  McCut- 
cheon.  With  Color  Frontispiece  and  other  illustrations 
by  Harrison  Fisher.  Beautiful  inlay  picture  in  colors  of 
Beverly  on  the  cover. 

"  The  most  fascinating,  engrossing  and  picturesque  of  the  season's 
novels."— Boston  Herald.  "'Beverly'  is  altogether  charming— al- 
most living  flesh  and  blood."— Louisville  Times.  "Better  than 
'  Graustark  '." — Mail  and  Express.  "  A  sequel  quite  as  impossible 
as  '  Graustark '  and  quite  as  entertaining." — Bookman.  "  A  charm- 
ing love  story  well  told." — Boston  Transcript^ 

HALF  A  ROGUE.    By  Harold  MacGrath.     With  illustra- 
tions and  inlay  cover  picture  by  Harrison  Fisher. 
"  Here  are  dexterity  of  plot,  glancing  play  at  witty  talk,  characters 
really  human  and  humanly  real,  spirit  and  gladness,  freshness  and 
quick  movement.    '  Half  a  Rogue '  is  as  brisk  as  a  horseback  ride  on 
&  glorious  morning.   It  is  as  varied  as  an  April  day.   It  is  as  charming 
as  two  most  charming  girls  can  make  it.     Love  and  honor  and  suc- 
cess and  all  the  great  things  worth  fighting  for  and  living  for  the  in- 
volved in  '  Half  a  Rogue.'  "—Phila.  Press. 

THE  GIRL  FROM  TIM'S   PLACE.     By  Charles  Clark 

Munn.  With  illustrations  by  Frank  T.  Merrill. 
"  Figuring  in  the  pages  of  this  story  there  are  several  strong  char- 
acters. Typical  New  England  folk  and  an  especially  sturdy  one,  old 
Cy  Walker,  through  whose  instrumentality  Chip  comes  to  happiness 
and  fortune.  There  is  a  chain  of  comedy,  tragedy,  pathos  and  love, 
which  makes  a  dramatic  story."— Boston  Herald. 

THE  LION  AND  THE  MOUSE.   A  story  of  American  Life. 
By  Charles  Klein,  and  Arthur  Hornblow.     With  illustra- 
tions by  Stuart  Travis,  and  Scenes  from  the  Play. 
The  novel  duplicated  the  success  of  the  play;  hi  fact  the  book  is 
greater  than  the  play.    A  portentous  clash  of  dominant  personalties 
that  form  the  essence  of  the  play  are  necessarily  touched  upon  but 
briefly  in  the  short  space  of  four  acts.     All  this  is  narrated  in  the 
novel  with  a  wealth  of  fascinating  and  absorbing  detail,  making  it  one 
of  the  most  powerfully  written  and  exciting  works  of  fiction  given  to 
the  world  in  years. 

GROSSE1  &  DUNLAP,  -  NEW  YORK 


FAMOUS  COPYRIGHT  BOOKS 
IN    POPULAR    PRICED  EDITIONS 

Re-issues  of  the  great  literary  successes  of  the  time.  Library 
size.  Printed  on  excellent  paper — most  of  them  with  illustra- 
tions of  marked  beauty — and  handsomely  bound  in  cloth. 
Price,  75  cents  a  volume,  postpaid. 

BARBARA    WINSLOW,    REBEL.     By  Elizabeth  Ellis. 

With  illustrations  by  John  Rae,  and  colored  inlay  cover. 
The  following,  taken  from  story,  will  best  describe  the  heroine : 
A  TOAST :    "  To  the  bravest  comrade  in  misfortune,  the  sweetest 

women." 
and  in 
York  Sun. 

SUSAN.    By  Ernest  Oldmeadow.    With  a  color  frontispiece 

by  Frank  Haviland.  Medalion  in  color  on  front  cover. 
Lord  Ruddington  falls  helplessly  in  love  with  Miss  Langley,  whom 
be  sees  in  one  of  her  walks  accompanied  by  her  maid,  Susan. 
Through  a  misapprehension  of  personalities  his  lordship  addresses 
a  love  missive  to  the  maid.  Susan  accepts  in  perfect  good  faith, 
and  an  epistolary  love-making  goes  on  till  they  are  disillusioned.  It 
naturally  makes  a  droll  and  delightful  little  comedy ;  and  is  a  story 
that  is  particularly  clever  in  the  telling. 

WHEN  PATTY  WENT  TO  COLLEGE.    By  Jean  Web- 
I       ster.    With  illustrations  by  C.  D.  Williams. 

"The  book  is  a  treasure."—  Chicago  Daily  News.  "Bright, 
whimsical,  and  thoroughly  entertaining. " — Buffalo  Express.  "  One 
of  the  best  stories  of  life  in  a  girl's  college  that  has  ever  been  writ- 
ten."— N.  Y.  Press.  "  To  any  woman  who  has  enjoyed  the  pleasures 
of  a  college  life  this  book  cannot  fail  to  bring  back  many  sweet  recol- 
lections ;  and  to  those  who  have  not  been  to  college  the  wit,  lightness, 
and  charm  of  Patty  are  sure  to  be  no  less  delightf  \di."— Public  Opinion. 

THE  MASQUERADER.     By  Katherine  Cecil  Thurston. 

With  illustrations  by  Clarence  F.  Underwood. 
"  You  can't  drop  it  till  you  have  turned  the  last  page." — Cleveland 
Leader.  "  Its  very  audacity  of  motive,  of  execution,  of  solution,  al- 
most takes  one's  breath  away.  The  boldness  of  its  denouement 
is  sublime." — Boston  Transcript.  "  The  literary  hit  of  a  generation. 
The  best  of  it  is  the  story  deserves  all  its  success.  A  masterly  story." 
— St.  Louis  Dispatch.  "  The  story  is  ingeniously  told,  and  cleverly 
constructed." — The  Dial. 

THE  GAMBLER.    By  Katherine  Cecil  Thurston.     With 

illustrations  by  John  Campbell. 

"  Tells  of  a  high  strung  young  Irish  woman  who  has  a  passion  for 
gambling,  inherited  from  a  long  line  of  sporting  ancestors.  She  has 
a  high  sense  of  honor,  too,  and  that  causes  complications.  She  is  a 
very  human,  lovable  character,  and  love  saves  her." — N.  Y.  Times. 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,      -      NEW  YORK 


FAMOUS  COPYRIGHT  BOOKS 
IN   POPULAR   PRICED   EDITIONS 

Re-issues  of  the  great  literary  successes  of  the  time.  Library 
size.  Printed  on  excellent  paper — most  of  them  with  illustra- 
tions of  marked  beauty — and  handsomely  bound  in  cloth. 
Price,  75  cents  a  volume,  postpaid. 

THE  AFFAIR  AT  THE  INN.    By  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin. 

With  illustrations  by  Martin  Justice. 

"  As  superlatively  clever  in  the  writing  as  it  is  entertaining  in  the 
reading.  It  is  actual  comedy  of  the  most  artistic  sort,  and  it  is 
handled  with  a  freshness  and  originality  that  is  unquestionably 
novel." — Boston  Transcript.  "  A  feast  of  humor  and  good  cheer, 
yet  subtly  pervaded  by  special  shades  of  feeling,  fancy,  tenderness, 
or  whimsicality.  A  merry  thing  in  prose."— St.  Louis  Democrat. 

ROSE  O'  THE  RIVER.    By  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin.    With 

illustrations  by  George  Wright. 

"'Rose  o'  the  River,'  a  charming  bit  of  sentiment,  gracefully 
written  and  deftly  touched  with  a  gentle  humor.  It  is  a  dainty  book 
—daintily  illustrated." — New  York  Tribune.  "A  wholesome,  bright, 
refreshing  story,  an  ideal  book  to  give  a  young  girl." — Chicago 
Record-Herald.  "  An  idyllic  story,  replete  with  pathos  and  inimita- 
ble humor.  As  story-telling  it  is  perfection,  and  as  portrait-painting 
it  is  true  to  the  lif  e.'  — London  Mail. 

TILLIE:    A  Mennonite  Maid.    By  Helen  R.  Martin.    With 

illustrations  by  Florence  Scovel  Shinn. 

The  little  "  Mennonite  Maid  "  who  wanders  through  these  pages 
is  something  quite  new  in  fiction.  Tillie  is  hungry  for  books  and 
beauty  and  love ;  and  she  comes  into  her  inhentance  at  the  end. 
"  Tillie  is  faulty,  sensitive,  big-hearted,  eminently  human,  and  first, 
last  and  always  lovable.  Her  charm  glows  warmly,  the  story  is  well 
handled,  the  characters  skilfully  developed." — The  Book  Buyer. 

LADY  ROSE'S  DAUGHTER.    By  Mrs.  Humphry  Ward. 

With  illustrations  by  Howard  Chandler  Christy. 
•'The  most  marvellous  work  of  its  wonderful  author."— New  York 
World.  "We  touch  regions  and  attain  altitudes  which  it  is  not  given 
to  the  ordinary  novelist  even  to  approach." — London  Times.  "In 
no  other  story  has  Mrs.  Ward  approached  the  brilliancy  and  vivacity 
of  Lady  Rose's  Daughter." — North  American  Review. 

THE  BANKER  AND  THE  BEAR.  By  Henry  K.  Webster. 
"An  exciting  and  absorbing  story." — New  York  Times.  "Intense- 
ly thrilling  in  parts,  but  an  unusually  good  story  all  through.  There 
is  a  love  affair  of  real  charm  and  most  novel  surroundings,  there  is  a 
run  on  the  bank  which  is  almost  worth  a  year's  growth,  and  there  is 
all  manner  of  exhilarating  men  and  deeds  which  should  bring  the 
book  into  high  and  permanent  favor.*'—  Chicago  Evening  Post. 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,  -  NEW  YORK 


NATURE      BOOKS 

With  Colored  Plates,  and  Photographs  from  Life. 

BIRD  NEIGHBORS.  An  Introductory  Acquaint- 
ance with  1 50  Birds  Commonly  Found  in  the  Woods, 
Fields  and  Gardens  About  Our  Homes.  By  Neltje 
Blanchan.  With  an  Introduction  by  John  Burroughs, 
and  many  plates  of  birds  in  natural  colors.  Large 
Quarto,  size  7^x10^,  Cloth.  Formerly  published 
at  $2.00.  Our  special  price,  $1.00. 

As  an  aid  to  the  elementary  study  of  bird  life  nothing  has  ever  been 
published  more  satisfactory  than  this  most  successful  of  Nature 
Books.  This  book  makes  the  identification  of  our  birds  simple  and 
positive,  even  to  the  uninitiated,  through  certain  unique  features. 

I.  All  the  birds  are  grouped  according  to  color,  in  the  belief  that  a 
bird's  coloring  is  the  first  and  often  the  only  characteristic  noticed. 

II.  By  another  classification,  the  birds  are  grouped  according  to  their 
season.     III.  All  the  popular  names  by  which  a  bird  is  known  are 
given  both  in  the  descriptions  and  the  index.    The  colored  plates 
are  the  most  beautiful  and  accurate  ever  given  in  a  moderate-priced 
and  popular  book.     The  most  successful  and  widely  sold  Nature 
Book  yet  published. 

BIRDS  THAT  HUNT  AND  ARE  HUNTED.  Life 
Histories  of  1 70  Birds  of  Prey,  Game  Birds  and  Water- 
Fowls.  By  Neltje  Blanchan.  With  Introduction  by 
G.  O.  Shields  (Coquina).  24  photographic  illustra- 
tions in  color.  Large  Quarto,  size  7^x10^.  Form- 
erly published  at  $2.00.  Our  special  price,  $1.00. 

No  work  of  its  class  has  ever  been  issued  that  contains  so  much 
valuable  information,  presented  with  such  felicity  and  charm.  The 
colored  plates  are  true  to  nature.  By  their  aid  alone  any  bird  illus- 
trated may  be  readily  identified.  Sportsmen  will  especially  relish 
the  twenty-four  color  plates  which  show  the  more  important  birds  in 
characteristic  poses.  They  are  probably  the  most  valuable  and 
artistic  pictures  of  the  kind  available  to-day. 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,  -  NEW  YORK 


NATURE      BOOKS 

With  Colored  Plates,  and  Photographs  from  Life. 


NATURE'S  GARDEN.  An  Aid  to  Knowledge  of 
Our  Wild  Flowers  and  Their  Insect  Visitors.  24  col- 
ored plates,  and  many  other  illustrations  photographed 
directly  from  nature.  Text  by  Neltje  Blanchan. 
Large  Quarto,  size  7^x10^.  Cloth.  Formerly  pub- 
lished at  $3.00  net.  Our  special  price,  $1.25. 

Suberb  color  portraits  of  many  familiar  flowers  in 
their  living  tints,  and  no  less  beautiful  pictures  in 
black  and  white  of  others — each  blossom  photo- 
graphed directly  from  nature — form  an  unrivaled 
series.  By  their  aid  alone  the  novice  can  name  the 
flowers  met  afield. 

Intimate  life-histories  of  over  five  hundred  species 
of  wild  flowers,  written  in  untechnical,  vivid  lan- 
guage, emphasize  the  marvelously  interesting  and 
vital  relationship  existing  between  these  flowers  and 
the  special  insect  to  which  each  is  adapted. 

The  flowers  are  divided  into  five  color  groups,  be- 
cause by  this  arrangement  any  one  with  no  knowl- 
edge of  botany  whatever  can  readily  identify  the 
specimens  met  during  a  walk.  The  various  popular 
names  by  which  each  species  is  known,  its  preferred 
dwelling-place,  months  of  blooming  and  geographical 
distribution  follow  its  description.  Lists  of  berry- 
bearing  and  other  plants  most  conspicuous  after  the 
flowering  season,  of  such  as  grow  together  in  differ- 
ent kinds  of  soil,  and  finally  of  family  groups  ar- 
ranged by  that  method  of  scientific  classification 
adopted  by  the  International  Botanical  Congress 
which  has  now  superseded  all  others,  combine  to 
make  "  Nature's  Garden"  an  indispensable  guide. 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,  -  NEW  YORK 


FAMOUS  COPYRIGHT   BOOKS 
IN   POPULAR    PRICED   EDITIONS 

Re-issues  of  the  great  literary  successes  of  the  time,  Library 
size.  Printed  on  excellent  paper — most  of  them  with  illustra- 
tions of  marked  beauty — and  handsomely  bound  in  cloth. 
Price,  75  cents  a  volume  postpaid 

THE   SPIRIT   OF   THE  SERVICE.     By  Edith  Elmer 

Wood  With  illustrations  by  Rufus  Zogbaum. 
The  standards  and  life  of  "  the  new  navy ;>  are  breezily  set  forth 
with  a  genuine  ring  impossible  from  the  most  gifted  "outsider." 
"  The  story  of  the  destruction  of  the  «  Maine,'  and  of  the  Battle  of 
Manila,  are  very  dramatic.  The  author  is  the  daughter  of  one  naval 
officer  and  the  wife  of  another.  Naval  folks  will  find  much  to  inter- 
est them  in '  The  Spirit  of  the  Service.'  "—The  Book  Buyer. 

A  SPECTRE  OF  POWER.    By  Charles  Egbert  Craddock. 

Miss  Murf ree  has  pictured  Tennessee  mountains  and  the  mountain 
people  in  striking  colors  and  with  dramatic  vividness,  but  goes  back 
to  the  time  of  the  struggles  of  the  French  and  English  in  the  early 
eighteenth  century  for  possession  of  the  Cherokee  territory.  The 
story  abounds  in  adventure,  mystery,  peril  and  suspense. 

THE  STORM  CENTRE.    By  Charles  Egbert  Craddock. 

A  war  story ,  but  more  of  flirtation,  love  and  courtship  than  of 
fighting  or  history.  The  tale  is  thoroughly  readable  and  takes  its 
readers  again  into  golden  Tennessee,  into  the  atmosphere  which  has 
distinguished  all  of  Miss  Murfree's  novels. 

THE  ADVENTURESS.  By  Coralie  Stanton.  With  color 
frontispiece  by  Harrison  Fisher,  and  attractive  inlay  cover 
in  colors, 

As  a  penalty  for  her  crimes,  her  evil  nature,  her  flint-like  callous- 
ness, her  more  than  inhuman  cruelty,  her  contempt  for  the  laws  of 
God  and  man,  she  was  condemned  to  bury  her  magnificent  personal- 
ty, her  transcendent  beauty,  her  superhuman  charms,  in  gilded 
obscurity  at  a  King's  left  hand.  A  powerful  story  powerfully  told. 

THE    GOLDEN    GREYHOUND.     A  Novel  by  Dwight 

Tilton.  With  illustrations  by  E.  Pollak. 
A  thoroughly  good  story  that  keeps  you  guessing  to  the  very  end, 
and  never  attempts  to  instruct  or  reform  you.  It  is  a  strictly  up-to- 
date  story  of  love  and  mystery  with  wireless  telegraphy  and  all  the 
modern  improvements.  The  events  nearly  all  take  place  on  a  big 
Atlantic  liner  and  the  romance  of  the  deep  is  skilfully  made  to  serve 
as  a  setting  for  the  romance,  old  as  mankind,  yet  always  new,  in- 
volving our  hero. 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,  T"  NEW  YORK 


BOOKS  ON  GARDENING  AND  FARMING 

THREE  ACRES  AND  LIBERTY.  By  Bolton  Hall. 
Shows  the  value  gained  by  intensive  culture.  Should  be 
in  the  hands  of  every  landholder.  Profusely  illustrated. 
i2mo.  Cloth,  75  cents. 

Every  chapter  in  the  book  has  been  revised  by  a  specialist  The 
author  clearly  brings  out  the  full  value  that  is  to  be  derived  from  in- 
tensive culture  and  intelligent  methods  given  to  small  land  holdings. 
Given  untrammelled  opportunity,  agriculture  will  not  only  care  well 
for  itself  and  for  those  intelligently  engaged  in  it,  but  it  will  give 
stability  to  all  other  industries  and  pursuits.  (From  the  Preface.) 
"  The  author  piles  fact  upon  authenticated  instance  and  successful 
experiment  upon  proved  example,  until  there  is  no  doubt  what  can 
be  done  with  land  intensively  treated.  He  shows  where  the  land 
may  be  found,  what  kind  we  must  have,  what  it  will  cost,  and  -A  hat 
to  do  with  it.  It  is  seldom  we  find  so  much  enthusiasm  tempered 
by  so  much  experience  and  common  sense.  The  book  points  out  in 
a  practical  way  the  possiblities  of  a  very  small  farm  intensively  cul- 
tivated. It  embodies  the  results  of  actual  experience  and  it  is  in- 
tended to  be  workable  in  every  detail." — Providence  Journal. 

NEW  CREATIONS  IN  PLANT  LIFE.     By  W.  S.  Har- 

wood  and  Luther  Burbank.      An  Authoritative  Account 

of  the  Work   of   Luther   Burbank.     With   48   full-page 

half-tone  plates.     i2mo.    Cloth,  75  cents. 

Mr.  Burbank  has  produced  more  new  forms  of  plant  life  than  any 

other  man  who  has  ever  lived.     These  have  been  either  for  the 

adornment  of  the  world,  such  as  new  and  improved  flowers,  or  for 

the  enrichment  of  the  world,  such  as  new  and  improved  fruits,  nuts, 

vegetables,  grasses,  trees  and  the  like.     This  volume  describes  his 

life  and  work  in  detail,  presenting  a  clear  statement  of  his  methods, 

showing  how  others  may  follow  the  same  lines,  and  introducing  much 

never  before  made  public.     "  Luther  Burbank  is  unquestionably  the 

greatest  student  of  human  life  and  philosophy  of  living  things  in 

America,  if  not  in  the  world."— S.  H.  Comings,  Cor.  Sec.  American 

League  of  Industrial  Education. 

A  WOMAN'S  HARDY  GARDEN.  By  Helena  Rutherfurd 
Ely.  Superbly  illustrated  with  49  full-page  halftone  en- 
gravings from  photographs  by  Prof.  C.  F.  Chandler. 
i2mo.  Cloth. 

"  Mrs.  Ely  is  the  wisest  and  most  winsome  teacher  of  the  fascinat- 
ing art  of  gardening  that  we  have  met  in  modern  print.  *  *  *  A 
book  to  be  welcomed  with  enthusiasm."— New  York  Tribune.  "Let 
us  sigh  with  gratitude  and  read  the  volume  with  delight.  For  here 
it  all  is  :  What  we  should  plant,  and  when  we  shonld  plant  it;  how 
to  care  for  it  after  it  is  planted  and  growing ;  what  to  do  if  it  does 
not  grow  and  blossom  ;  what  will  blossom,  and  when  it  will  blossom, 
and  what  the  blossom  will  be.  It  is  full  of  garden  lore ;  of  the  spirit 
of  happy  out-door  life.  A  good  and  wholesome  book.—  The  Dial. 

GROSSET  &  DUNLAP,  -  NEW  YORK 


912735 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


lilitiii      1111 


